


The De-Aged Doctor and the Goblet of Fire

by Whovian101



Series: The De-Aged Doctor [4]
Category: Doctor Who, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-13
Updated: 2018-02-25
Packaged: 2019-03-18 00:46:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 22
Words: 28,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13670757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whovian101/pseuds/Whovian101
Summary: The Doctor and Jack are hit by a de-aging gun, so take refuge at Hogwarts. But what happens when the Doctor is forced to participate in the Tri-Wizard Tournament?





	1. Prologue

* * *

 

_The Doctor and Captain Jack Harkness ran as fast as their legs could carry them towards the TARDIS. The Doctor wrenched the door open, to try to get away from the screaming soldiers. There was a blast of a gun, and they felt themselves getting caught in the blast. The TARDIS doors snapped shut. “Doctor?” Jack called, but was forcefully shoved a beaker full of a sizzling substance._

_“Drink it.” The Doctor ordered, doing his own in one gulp. Jack was more hesitant, but trusted the Doctor completely, so downed his as well. The Doctor ran back to the laboratory he had emerged from, but only a few minutes went by before Jack heard a large blast and a few shattering beakers, and a few Gallifreyan swears, going by the lack of translation. Doctor?” Jack called and ran into the lab. But the man standing before him wasn’t the Doctor he had just seen, it was the Doctor from before, the first Doctor Jack had met. “Doctor?”_

_“What Jack?” He said, before bursting into a regeneration-like light, and turned to an older man with white hair._

_“It was a De-aging gun we were hit with.” He said in a raspy voice, “The substance I just made let us keep our personalities.”_

_“What?” Jack said, stunned. Then, another burst of light, and a shorter man with light brown hair emerged._

_“That’s number eight.” The Doctor said, Jack was surprised at his tone, as if being de-aged was a minor inconvenience,_

_“Doctor, what’s the gun for? If it doesn’t kill us then?”_

_“Oh it does,” the Doctor continued to work as he de-regenerated once more into an older, pudgier man,_

_“It regresses a person until they don’t even exist.”_

_“What?” Jack managed, “I assume you’re working on a way to not kill us?”_

_“Yep.” The Doctor said, popping the ‘p’, which sounded strange in this other man’s voice, then, another pop. The new Doctor had curly blonde hair and blue eyes. The Doctor went back to his elixir with determination. Two de-regenerations later, the Doctor had curly brown hair and an even more boyish grin then the tenth incarnation. He spent the longest in this body, mixing and diluting. Three de-regenerations later, the Doctor finished, he was on his first body, and he quickly shoved the elixir into Jack’s hands._

_“Doctor, I haven’t regressed at all. Maybe it didn’t hit me.” The Doctor laughed, but in his old body, Jack was slightly unnerved._

_“No, you’ve just been the same age for so long because of Rose.” The name stung the Doctor’s lips. “You’ll start regressing soon.” As if on cue, Jack felt something activate in his body, so he quickly drank the elixir. Not wanting to think about himself, Jack watched as the Doctor’s hair coloured and his age regressed. Soon, they were both shrinking. Before he knew it, the TARDIS began shaking._

_“Oh, she doesn’t like this.” The Doctor observed, “Too many paradoxes,” Jack winked at the Doctor, knowing this would be one hell of an adventure._


	2. Where to Go From Here

Jack woke up, he was on the floor atop his old coat, except it was much bigger. He saw a small face look down at him, it was a boy, just about eleven years old, with pale blue-green eyes and soft-looking brown hair, “You alright Jack?”

“What?” Jack didn’t know this boy. The boy handed him a mirror, and Jack looked inside it, he stared at the small, brown haired, eleven year-old boy who was looking back at him, then he suddenly remembered what had happened, and Jack almost fell down the ramp,

“Doctor!”

“What?” The boy turned,

“Nothing- Just- wow.” The Doctor laughed, but it came out as more of a giggle,

“The TARDIS isn’t happy with all this, she’s taking us somewhere to camouflage us in. She doesn’t like all the paradoxes.” Jack nodded, vaguely remembering the mention of the excess amount of paradoxes before,

“What are we going to do?” Jack asked,

“We need to find how to re-age ourselfs. I mean, I can’t fly the TARDIS, which is made for six people, with this small child body.” The Doctor gestured to the small form he wore in disgust.

“So, where are we?” Jack asked when the TARDIS landed them. “Let me guess, 21st century London?” The Doctor rolled his eyes, “We do end up there a lot.” Jack pointed out. The Doctor ignored him, and bounded over to two letters the TARDIS had printed out,

“Brilliant!” The Doctor grinned, “She’s given us a cover story!” Jack looked at the envelope the Doctor gave him, it read:

  
_Mr. J. Harkness_

_Control Room_

_TARDIS_

 

Surprised how specific it was, Jack opened it to find a long letter on parchment that read;

 

_**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry** _

_**Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore** _

_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

 

_Dear Mr. Harkness,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

 

_Term Begins on 1 September. We await your owl.._

 

_Yours sincerely,_

_**Minerva McGonagall** _

_**Deputy Headmistress** _

 

Jack gaped at the Doctor as he calmly read his letter, then Jack looked at the supply list it came with;

 

_**First-year students will require:** _

 

_**Uniform:** _

_Three sets of plain work robes (Black)_

_One plain pointed hat for day wear (Black)_

_One Pair of protective gloves (Dragonhide or similar)_

_One winter cloak (Black, silver fastenings)_

_**Please note that all student’s clothes should carry name-tags at all times.** _

 

_**Books:** _

_The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 1 by Miranda Goshawk_

_A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot_

_Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling_

_A Beginner’s Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch_

_One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore_

_Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger_

_Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander_

_The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble_

 

_**Other Equipment:** _

_1 Wand_

_1 Caldron (pewter, standard size 2)_

_1 set of glass or crystal phials_

_1 telescope_

_1 set of brass scales_

_Students may also bring an Owl, a Cat, or a Toad._

_**PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS** _

 

The Doctor laughed, then turned to Jack, grinned, then pulled a lever on the TARDIS and a fountain of coins fell into a pouch he held under it. “So, magic exists then?” Jack asked, the Doctor laughed,

“Not really, it’s using a slight psychic field using a powerful vesil, namely a wand. I could do it without one, they’ve only got a small psychic field. Barely any bigger than the other humans’.”

“So, I can do magic?” Jack asked, the Doctor nodded, then seemed to switch topics completely, “I’ll send the TARDIS to the grounds so she’ll be there if we need her.” The TARDIS’ hum changed a little, and Jack heard the Doctor murmur, “No, come on, please. Stop it. We both know that’s a bad idea. But what if-, yes, I know. But after all-, I know but-, fine.” He turned back to Jack, “The TARDIS insists that she’s going to wait until mid-November to land. She wants us to ‘settle in.’” The Doctor rolled his eyes childishly,

“Why are we getting settled in?” Jack asked, “Aren’t we just going to go, make the formula for re-aging, then leave?”

“It’s not as simple as that.” The Doctor sighed, “It’s illegal for any underage wizard to get ahold of, and as you can see,” The Doctor gestured to himself again, “We are under that age.”

“So for now, we’re blending in?” Jack asked,

“Yep. Imagine if anyone figured out who we were.”

“Ianto would have a laughing fit.” Jack murmured, suddenly missing his co-worker fiercely,

“Grab a trunk of stuff and meet me back here. You should need different clothing,” He said, ready to get out of these now enormous clothes, “There’s some in the wardrobe that should fit, and anything sentimental you should leave in the TARDIS, she’ll keep it safe.” Jack nodded and they sprinted off. Probably an hour later, Jack and The Doctor met in the console room, each with a trunk with a shimmering gold-plated name on there, Jack’s had _Jack Harkness_ , and the Doctor had his false name, _John Smith_ on his. They looked at each other, ready to go.

“Alright, alright. I know. I’ll come see you when you materialize. I know.” The Doctor was stroking the TARDIS as they left, “Allons-y Jack.” He said. Jack rolled his eyes, the phrase sounded weird coming from the young boy. The Doctor watched sadly as the TARDIS dematerialized, then started grumbling in a language that Jack didn’t understand, but assumed was Gallifreyan,

“You do know I can’t understand you, right?” Jack said,

“That’s what I was saying!” The Doctor said dramatically, “Now that the TARDIS is ahead of us, I have to speak English!” Jack rolled his eyes,

“Oh the agony.” He said sarcastically, The Doctor grinned playfully, and lead him into a small pub at the corner with a sign that read, ‘The Leaky Cauldron' that the Doctor had informed him had a perception filter so Muggles, or non-magical people, would stay away from it. The two of them walked in,

“We’d like a bedroom until September 1st.” The Doctor said as they walked up, the man nodded, then looked around, as if in search of a guardian of some sort, “Are your parents here or are you alone?”

“We’re alone.” The Doctor answered, the man shrugged, and had them lead to a bedroom, and the Doctor and Jack left their trunks and headed to Diagon Alley.


	3. The Wand Shop

The next morning, Jack followed the Doctor out to the back of the Leaky Cauldron. It was a large brick wall. “Normally you can’t get in without wand,” The Doctor informed him, and, just as Jack was wondering what the Doctor was referring to as ‘in’, the Doctor pulled out his Sonic Screwdriver and a large doorway opened in front of them.

“What did you do?” Jack asked,

“Redistributed the bricks.” The Doctor smiled and pulled Jack into the alley. It was magnificent, there were so many stores, and Jack didn’t know what to look at first.

They chose to get a wand first. The two walked into the shop to find an older man waiting for them. Jack was handed a wand first, Ollivander said,

“What is your wand hand?”

“Uh, I’m left handed.” Ollivander nodded, then handed him a long sleek wand.

“Oakwood, Phoenix core, 10 inches,” the moment it touched Jack’s hands it sent a jet and broke a lamp, “No, no, no, no!” He handed him another, “Acacia wood, unicorn hair, 8.½ inches,” then whisked it away, it only took a few more tries before Jack was smiling as his new wand. It was Firwood with a Dragon heartstring and was 12½ inches long. Jack dropped the coins he owed into Mr. Ollivander’s hands, then grabbed the Doctor’s small hand and pushed him in front of the man.

“What’s your wand hand?” Ollivander asked,

“Ambidextrous.” Jack rolled his eyes, of course the Doctor was ambidextrous, that meant there were twice as many options for him.

The Doctor went through a lot more wands then Jack did, and broke more objects than Jack even realized were in the room, but finally, a wand of Maplewood, with Phoenix core, and was 10 inches. The Doctor seemed content with this, and together Jack and the Doctor exited the shop.

“What do they represent?” Jack asked,

“Well, you have Firwood is known to be the ‘survivors wand’.” Jack rolled his eyes,

“Of course I got the ‘survivors wand’.”

“Sorry, the wand chooses the wizard.” The Doctor grinned,

“What about yours?”

“Mine is Maplewood. It favors travelers.” Jack nodded,

“That makes sense.” Jack nodded,

The Doctor and Jack then walked into the robe shop to get fitted. They were fitted and paid for their new robes, then headed to various shops, picking up their cauldrons, dragon hide gloves, crystal phials, telescopes, and brass scales. Finally, they went down to the bookstore, and found the required textbooks, and more. The Doctor had been looking forwards to this the most. He hurried around the store finding an incredible amount of books, with more advanced subjects than Jack could fathom. They returned to their bedroom that night, prepared for the train ride to school tomorrow. By ten at night, Jack said he was going to bed, he looked at the Doctor who was reading all the books he’d gotten. “I’m going to bed. You coming?”

“No.” The Doctor responded, I may be a kid, but I’m still a Time Lord. I only need a small amount of sleep.” Jack shrugged,

“Save some books for school.” He laughed at the Time Lord, the Doctor grinned,

“I’ll keep that in mind.”


	4. The Hogwarts Express

The next morning came and Jack and the Doctor pulled their trunks to Kings Cross Station. The Doctor strode confidently to the wall between platforms 9 and 10. “Allons-y!” He sprinted into the wall. Jack watched, stunned, as the Doctor’s small figure disappeared. He began to walk, then jog, then he was running, at a wall he could tell was solid. He shut his eyes, bracing for impact. He peaked them open when the impact with the wall that he had been expecting didn’t happen. He gazed around, he was on a new platform, with a big train labeled; HOGWARTS EXPRESS sat. His eyes rested on a bemused Doctor. “Are you going to stand there all day?” The Doctor asked, pulling Jack out of the way as another couple people ran through the barrier.

“How does that work?” Jack stuttered. They stepped onto the train, looking for a place to sit. A tall girl, probably a fifth or sixth year, with deep brown hair invited them into their compartment with two identical redheaded twin boys around her age,

“Hello, my name is Anastasia.” She smiled,

“Captain Jack Harkness.” Jack grinned before getting a sharp elbow to the ribs from the Doctor,

“John Smith.” The Doctor smiled at her, “It’s nice to meet you.” The Doctor pulled out a book, Jack was stunned to see was _A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration_.

“That’s a seventh year book.” One of the identical twins said,

“Very observant of you.” The Doctor replied, the boys laughed,

“I’m Fred,”

“And I’m George.” They grinned,

“Cap-er- Jack Harkness and this is, um, John Smith.” The Doctor looked up from his book grinning,

“I’ve figured it out Jack!”

“What?” Jack looked curiously at the Doctor,

“Transfiguration!” He grinned, “At first I thought is was impossible, because it breaks the law of conservation of mass, but actually it’s taking the quantum-”

“English.” Jack reminded him as he had already begun to rant about some techno-babble.

“It hacks reality.” The Doctor smiled, “It’s not turning something into something else , it’s about imagining the one thing has always been the other thing. It’s literally going into the code of the universe and rewriting it according to your imagination!” Jack shrugged and turned to the twins,

“I swear I only understand have the stuff he says.” but the twins were looking at him, fascinated,

“We should introduce you to someone.” they ran off and came back a minute later with a probably fourth-year girl with puffy brown hair, who seemed quite irritated, “He’s as big a nerd as you are, maybe even more if that’s possible.” They were informing her as they walked in.

“Hey.” She said in a friendly voice to the young students. The Doctor shook her hand,

“Nice to meet you.” She smiled,

“The twins have told me you’re very smart.” The Doctor was already frustrated with being spoken to like a kid.

“Yes.” He said flatly,

“I just wanted you to know that if you needed help with anything if you’re in Gryffindor, feel free to ask me.” The Doctor didn’t like how if he wasn’t in Gryffindor, she wasn’t willing to help him, even if he knew he wouldn’t need help. So he replied with a bitter,

“And I will help you if you need it, it doesn’t matter which house I’m in.” She looked taken aback, but slightly amused, not imagining she would need help from a first year,

“I’ll keep that in mind.” She smiled,

“Yes, you should.” He picked back up his book.

“Is that _A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration_?” She asked,

“Yes. All the other ones were useless. This is the only one that explained the theory.”

“That’s for N.E.W.T. level students though!” she exclaimed, “Even I haven’t read it!”

“Well, I will help you if you need it.” He repeated, she stormed out, mumbling something about how it didn’t matter because he was a Slytherin, clearly not happy with him. “She’s pleasant.” The Doctor saw the two twins were grinning wide,

“Did you see her face?” They were laughing,

“It’s been years since we’ve made her that mad!”

“She doesn’t like when someone’s smarter than her!”

“Especially a first year!” The Doctor smiled, happy they didn’t mind anyone from other houses, as he noticed Anastasia’s Hufflepuff scarf.

The train pulled to a stop, and they all grabbed their belongings. A large man was calling out, “First years! This way! First years!” They walked up to him, joining the rest of the gathering first years. They took some large boats across the lake.

The Doctor was up against the side of the boat, looking in at the water at the luminescent creatures underneath, when a girl in their boat asked, “What house do you think you’ll be in?”

“Ravenclaw?” The Doctor said, knowing it was more wishful thinking,

“You’re totally going to be a Gryffindor and you know it.” Jack said, “I’ll probably be a Slytherin.” The Doctor shrugged,

“What do you think you’ll be in?” He asked the girl,

“My whole family has been Gryffindor, so I probably will be too, so we probably won’t be able to hang out.” She addressed Jack, “But we can.” She smiled at the Doctor,

“Why not Jack?” The Doctor asked,

“We don’t mingle with Slytherins.” She laughed,

“That’s a shame.” He said. She smiled until the Doctor said, “I thought you’d be a good friend.” Her face fell,

“What?” She asked, confused. The Doctor didn’t respond to her and was silent the rest of the ride.


	5. The Sorting

All the first years were taken up a staircase and stood in front of a large door. “This is Professor McGonagall.” The large man informed them,

“Thank you Hagrid. I will take them from here.” A woman smiled, she was an older woman, probably sixty or seventy, with long emerald green robes, and a tall black pointed hat. “Welcome to Hogwarts.” She said, “The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your Houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your House will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your House, sleep in your House dormitory, and spend free time in your House common-room.

“The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each House has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your House points, while any rule-breaking will lose House points. At the end of the year, the House with the most points is awarded the House Cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever House becomes yours.

“The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting.” She gave a smile, then said, “I shall return when we are ready for you. Please wait quietly.” There was a lot of whispering, and all of a sudden, a couple people screamed as twenty pearly-white transparent ghosts flew in.

“Evolution of the gelth.” The Doctor whispered to Jack who nodded,

“New students!” A large monk-like ghost wearing a ruff and tights exclaimed, “I’m the Fat Friar! I hope to see you in Hufflepuff!”

“Move along now! The Sorting Ceremony is about to begin.” Professor Mcgonagall returned and the ghosts dispersed. “Now form a line and follow me.” She said she pulled open the large door and stepped into the great hall. The room was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables where the rest of the students were sitting. The ceiling was to high to make out, presumably enchanted to reflect the sky. Most kids were in awe, but the Doctor and Jack looked at each other, and laughed, having seen much more than these kids. They followed Professor Mcgonagall across the floor, looking around at all of the students. They stood in a line as Professor Mcgonagall stepped forwards with large scroll of parchment. Next to her on a stool was a brown, patched, frayed, old, hat. But instead of being sorted right away, the hat began to move, and out of a rip in it, a voice rang out,

 

_“A thousand years or more ago,_

_When I was newly sewn,_

_There lived four wizards of renown,_

_Whose names are still well known:_

_Bold Gryffindor, from wild moor,_

_Fair Ravenclaw, from glen,_

_Sweet Hufflepuff, from valley brod,_

_Shrewd Slytherin, from fen._

_They shared a wish, a hope, a dream,_

_They hatched a daring plan_

_To educate young sorcerers_

_Thus Hogwarts School began._

_Now each of these four founders_

_Formed their own house, for each_

_Did value different virtues_

_In the ones they had to teach._

_By Gryffindor, the bravest were_

_Prized far beyond the rest;_

_For Ravenclaw, the cleverest_

_Would always be the best;_

_For Hufflepuff, hard workers were_

_Most worthy of admission;_

_And power-hungry Slytherin_

_Loved those of great ambition._

_While still alive they did divide_

_Their favorites from the throng,_

_Yet how to pick the worthy ones_

_When they were dead and gone?_

_‘Twas Gryffindor who found the way,_

_He whipped me off his head_

_The founders put some brains in me_

_So I could choose instead!_

_Now slip me snug about your ears,_

_I’ve never yet been wrong,_

_I’ll have a look inside your mind_

_And tell you where you belong!_

 

The hall rang with applause when the hat finished. Professor Mcgonagall cleared her throat and said, “When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted.” She adjusted her scroll, “Ackerley, Stewart!” A young boy who was visibly trembling walked up to the hat, and placed it on. It hesitated for a second, before crying out,

“RAVENCLAW!” The boy ran to a seat at the Ravenclaw table where everyone was applauding him.

“Baddock, Malcolm!” This boy was shaking, he sat down and slowly placed the hat on his head. The Doctor could tell he was having a mental conversation. He then saw his face visibly relax, smile, then the hat called,

“SLYTHERIN!” The boy calmly walked over to the Slytherin table, but it didn’t stop the small skip in his step.

“Branstone, Eleanor!” A girl with black hair in pigtails, brown eyes, and robes that looked two sizes too big, probably from another sibling, She was grinning and jammed the hat on her head, it hesitated for a second, than yelled,

“HUFFLEPUFF!” She enthusiastically took the hat off and ran to her house table, than embraced an older girl, presumably her sister.

“Cauldwell, Owen!” A blonde boy calmly walked up, his hair was combed over and his posture straight, implying he was from a wealthy family.

“HUFFLEPUFF!” The hat shouted the second it rested on his head, his face lit up, placing the hat down carefully, patting it twice, then walking to the table.

“Creevey, Dennis!” A tiny boy who was sopping wet, walked up, tripping over the oversized moleskin overcoat that was wrapped around him.

“GRYFFINDOR!” The hat shouted, the boy pulled off the hat, than ran down to the Gryffindor table.

“Collin, I fell in!” He cried to a boy, who must have been his older brother, because he looked like a bigger version of himself, “It was brilliant! And something in the water grabbed me and pushed me back into the boat!”

“Cool!” Collin responded, “It was probably the giant squid, Dennis!”

“ _Wow!”_ Dennis cried, then began asking his brother who the fourth year boy with the messy black hair and round glasses. Professor Mcgonagall continued,

“Dobbs, Emma!” A smiling girl hurried up to the stool. Her hands were shaking, but she didn’t let her smile waver. The Doctor made note of the bruise on her left cheek, and to make a point to talk to her later.

“SLYTHERIN!” The hat shouted, and the girl, now visibly relieved, she ran to the table, and sat down in between two third-years, who seemed concerned about her as well.

The sorting continued, Jack going into Slytherin, and other boys and girls with varying degrees of fright on their faces hurrying up and and away from the enchanted hat. Finally, the Doctor heard the name,

“Smith, John.” The Doctor walked up, keeping his fake smile on, but he worried. He slowly placed the hat on his head, and immediately felt the telepathic connection. He closed parts of his mind off, creating a cover story, and thankfully, the hat didn’t see through it,

 _Oh! You’re new._ The hat was laughed, _I’ve never gotten someone like you before._ The Doctor began to worry, and was tempted to pull back up his mental walls that he had torn down for the hat, but quickly thought against it. _You have many qualities of a Ravenclaw. You are more clever than anyone I’ve ever seen. You are smarter than every professor here. Your wisdom is much beyond my own, but you tend to act impulsively when those you care about are in danger. I am lead to think that you would do well in Hufflepuff. You have worked very hard to get to where you are, you are loyal to the human race, and fairness is very important to you. But your hands are far from clean. You also share many attributes of a Slytherin, you are very much a leader, making your own rules as you go. Though you may show a slight bias for this House because of your friend’s placement, but you are far from cunning. Lastly, you are much like a Gryffindor, for you have so much courage, bravery. Your determination is beyond measure than anyone I’ve ever seen. You may not like it, but you are a warrior. You fight, and you destroy. And yet, you trust my opinion. Very well. I will place you where I think you belong._

“GRYFFINDOR!” The Doctor looked around, they clearly had taken a long time to come to this conclusion, for everyone was murmuring. The Doctor placed the hat back on the stool and walked over to the Gryffindor table in between Fred and George.

“Wow.” Fred whispered, “I don’t think anyone’s ever taken that long.

“Yeah, It must have been a half hour.”

“27 minutes and 34 seconds.” The Doctor said, still grateful that even as a kid, his time sense was intact. The Professor cleared her throat and said the next name. Finally, the sorting ended with Kelvin Whitby going into Hufflepuff. An older man, whom the Doctor assumed was Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster, stood and smiling at the students, his arms in a welcoming position,

“I only have two words to say to you,” His booming voice echoed throughout the hall, “ _Tuck in._ ”

“Hear hear!” Two boys at the Gryffindor table, called, one being the boy who Dennis had pointed to, and the other a boy with flaming red hair and freckles, who looked a lot like the twins. Suddenly, the tables filled with food.

After a filling feast and a delicious dessert, Professor Dumbledore was back on his feet as well.

“So!” He said smiling, “Now that we are all fed and watered, I must once more ask for your attention, while I give out a few notices.

“Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to tell you that the list of objects forbidden inside the castle this year has been extended to include Screaming Yo yos, Fanged Frisbees, and Ever-Bashing Boomerangs. The full list comprises some four hundred and thirty-seven items, I believe, and can be viewed in Mr. Filch’s office, if anybody would like to check it.” A flicker of amusement crossed the headmaster’s face, but he continued, “As ever, I would like to remind you all that the forest on the grounds is out-of-bounds to students, as is the village of Hogsmeade to all below third year.

“It is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year.” There were gasps of surprise, but since the Doctor didn’t know what quidditch was, he didn’t mind all that much, but Fred and George were visibly appalled. “This is due to an event that will be starting in October, and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers’ time and energy -- but I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts will be hosting an event that hasn’t been hosted in over a century, the Triwizard Tournament.”


	6. The Potions Class

“You’re JOKING!” Fred shouted, his voice echoing through the hall. Nearly everyone laughed, even Professor Dumbledore chuckled a little,

“I am _not_ joking Mr. Weasley,” He said, “though now that you mention it, I did hear an excellent one over the summer about a troll, a hag, and a leprechaun who all go into a bar…” Professor Mcgonagall cleared her throat, interrupting his thoughts, much to the Doctor’s disappointment, he was interested, “Er -- but maybe this is not the time… no… where was I? Ah, yes, the Triwizard Tournament… well, some of you will not know what this tournament involves, so I hope those of you who _do_ know will forgive me for giving a short explanation, and allow their attention to wander freely.

“The Triwizard Tournament was first established some seven hundred years ago as a friendly competition between the three largest European schools of wizardry: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. A champion was selected to represent each school, and the three champions competed in three magical tasks. The schools took it in turns to host the tournament once every five years, and it was generally agreed to be a most excellent way of establishing ties between young witches and wizards of different nationalities -- until, that is, the death toll mounted so high that the tournament was discontinued.” There were whispers around the hall about this so called “death toll.” the Professor continued, “There have been several attempts over the centuries to reinstate the tournament, none of which has been very successful. However, our own departments of International Magical Cooperation and Magical Games and Sports have decided the time is ripe for another attempt. We have worked hard over the summer to ensure that this time, no champion will find himself or herself in mortal danger.

“The heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving with their short-listed contenders in October, and the selection of the three champions will take place at Halloween. An impartial judge will decide which students are most worthy to compete for the Triwizard Cup, the glory of their school, and a thousand Galleons personal prize money.”

“I’m going for it!” Fred hissed down the table, but he was one of many whispers.

“Eager though I knew all of you will be to bring the Triwizard Cup to Hogwarts, the heads of the participating schools, along with the Ministry of Magic, have agreed to impose an age restriction on contenders this year. Only students who are of age -- that is to say, seventeen years or older -- will be allowed to put forward their names for consideration.” The Doctor began to tune out, finding no reason to listen. He didn’t want to be involved in this, he had no interest in glory or money, and there was no reason to risk his life for a petty competition. The Doctor was pulled back into the present when Professor Dumbledore said, “Bedtime! Chop chop!” The Doctor was pulled to his feet by the crowd. He followed the prefect, calling out for everyone to follow them. He waved to Jack as Jack was brought to the dungeons. Jack winked, and disappeared from view.

* * *

 

The Doctor walked across the room to the Slytherin table where Jack was sitting. “Good morning.” He smiled,

“Good morning.” They began to talk before a tall fourth-year boy with slicked back blonde hair walked up to them and pointed a boney finger at the Doctor,

“You can’t talk to him.” He hissed at Jack,

“Why not?” The Doctor asked accusingly, not liking the House dynamic,

“You are a Gryffindor.” He drawled,

“Yes, you are very observant. And you are a Slytherin. You didn’t answer my question. Why not?” He watched the boy’s face twist, then pushed the Doctor. The Doctor stumbled and fell on the ground, but stood back up, and picked up the schedule he was given. Jack looked at his schedule to compare.

“We have potions together.” The Doctor smiled, “And Flying lessons, and Defence Against the Dark Arts.” They smiled, it could have been worse, and walked to their potions class together.

The class started with Professor Snape having them pair up. Jack and the Doctor were more than happy to work together. “You are here to learn the subtle science and art of potion-making,” he began, he spoke very quietly, but still managed to command the silence of the whole class. “As there is little foolish wand-wavering here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don’t expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnare the senses… I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death - if you aren’t the big bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach.” The Doctor found Professor Snape’s enthusiastic description slightly humorous,

“Smith!” the professor’s eyes locked onto the Doctor, “You seem entertained,” He said, clearly having noticed the Doctor humored face, “So tell me, what would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?”

“You would make an incredibly strong sleeping potion known as The Draught of Living Death. It brings upon its drinker a very powerful sleep that can last indefinitely. This is very dangerous if not used with caution.” The Doctor said effortlessly. Professor Snape seemed taken aback,

“Correct.”

‘It’s a simple enough potion to make, as long as you know what you’re doing.” the Doctor mentioned offhandedly,

“That is a N.E.W.T. level potion!” Professor Snape exclaimed,

“Yes it is.” The Doctor said, than Professor Snape thought for a moment before asking,

“But where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?”

“It’s a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and is used as a cure for most poisons.” The Doctor said. Professor Snape once more was surprised,

“And what’s the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?”

“It’s the same plant, otherwise known as aconite.” The Doctor said in a matter-of-fact way. Professor Snape nodded,

“Very good Mr. Smith.” He smiled, “Ten points to Gryffindor.” The Gryffindors were stunned, it was clearly very rare for Professor Snape to give points to Gryffindor. “Now, you and your pairs will mix up a simple potion to cure boils.” The students began to get to work, but the Doctor just stared at the instructions,

“Doctor?” Jack asked, but he was not the only one to notice his lack of work.

“Smith!” Professor Snape snapped at him, “Would you care to explain why you aren’t working?” The Doctor’s eyes peeled from the instructions to look at the professor,

“I’m trying to figure out why you gave us the wrong potion.”

“Wrong?” Snape’s eyebrows knitted together,

“Well, dangerous and inefficient in any case.”

“Explain yourself.”

“Start with the snake fangs for example,” The Doctor began, “They’re only added for the calcium and the oxidoreductases. The ions of the former help desiccate the boil. The latter, when strengthened ad specialized for _Staphylococcus aureus_ via magic, helps the body fight off the infection. Everything else in the snake fang is not only useless, but, in some cases, a detriment, as seen by its violent reaction to the keratin if the porcupine quills is added too soon.” Snape opened his mouth to interrupt, but the Doctor continued, not giving him a chance. “If you replace the snake fangs with pure calcium, or even sodium chloride come to think of it, and an oxidoreductase such as catalase or L-amino-acid oxidase, which actually are in snake venom, or if you prefer, regular isopropyl alcohol would work just as well and is easy enough to get, you would have eliminated all the extraneous ingredients. Without these ingredients, the dried nettles become pointless,  since they are only added to absorb the useless and poisonous parts of the snake fangs.” Professor Snape frowned, then slowly sank into his desk chair and started taking notes. “Without nettles, you can add fewer slugs, since you no longer have to compensate for them being absorbed. With fewer slugs you don’t have to worry as much about the disulfide bonds within the keratin reacting poorly. Thus you don’t have to worry about possibly adding the porcupine quills too soon and destabilizing the bonds.” The Doctor frowned, reviewing the changes he's made, then said, “Of course, I should point out that if you do use isopropyl alcohol, you’d have to change your base liquid, since alcohol won’t mix well with oil. That’s pretty simple though; simply use water instead of oil. Granted, this means that the finished product is too thin to slather on a boil, but you can add cornstarch until it’s thick enough. This changes the final product from an ointment to a poultice, but it works just as well. There are, of course, other modifications you can make to both simplify the process to make it more efficient, but at this point you get the idea. Professor Snape looked like he might faint.

“Mr. Smith I-” He thought for a moment, “I would like you to create the potion as written, as this class requires practical capabilities as well as theoretical knowledge.” The Doctor nodded in agreement and started the potion. Professor Snape paid close attention to the Doctor’s flawless work, and to his amazement, every so often, the Doctor leaned over to correct or make a suggestion to Jack, a Slytherin.

At the end of class, the Doctor’s potion was perfect, and Jack’s was pretty close as well. After packing up, the Doctor heard Professor Snape call his name, “Smith! I would like to see you.” He waved goodbye to Jack, who headed out, and walked up to Professor Snape.

“Yes sir?” He said, as he approached,

“I would like to move you to a more experienced class.” The Doctor nodded,

“Okay.”

“I will discuss this with the Headmaster.”

“Thank you sir.”

“You should get to class.” He said, so the Doctor took off to his next class.


	7. The Teachers' Meeting

Herbology was easy for the Doctor as well, as he had come across billions of types of plants in his years of travels. The Professor, Professor Sprout, didn’t seem interested in moving him to a higher class, claiming there was nothing better than experience. He then departed for his flying lesson. He and Jack stood across from each other, happy to see each other again. The teacher, Madam Hooch commanded each of them to stand by a broom. “Now stick your right hand over your broom and say ‘up!’” The Doctor did this, but nothing happened, he commanded it up again, nothing happened. Jack’s soon flew up into his hand, but the Doctor finally got frustrated and just picked it up. “Now, when I blow my whistle, kick off the ground hard.” They nodded, “One. Two. Three!” She blew the whistle, and Jack and the Doctor managed to get in the sky. The Doctor was not nearly as good as Jack. Jack flew circles around the irritable and struggling Doctor. Finally, they were told to come back to the ground, and the Doctor didn’t hesitate. He didn’t like the brooms. Or the endless teasing from Jack.

Charms was much more difficult. They were told to do the spell, _Wingardium Leviosa._ The Doctor did as he was told, swishing and flicking his wand, knowing what the spell was supposed to do, but the feather in front of him merely wobbled. Professor Flitwick approached him, seeing the progress he was making, “Relax you hand.” He suggested,

“What?” The Doctor looked up at the man,

“Your wand,” He said, “You’re gripping it very tightly.” The Doctor looked at his hand, he indeed was gripping it extremely tightly,

“Sorry. Habit.” He mumbled, releasing his grip on the wand. Professor Flitwick looked suspiciously at him, then his eyes widened as the Doctor made the feather in front of him wiz around the room effortlessly.

Transfiguration was next, the Doctor had already figured it out on the train. The lesson was to turn matches into needles, and he did it in one try. Professor Mcgonagall was astounded, clearly she hadn’t expected someone to do it in one class, nevermind in one try. She looked at him, then handed him another match, telling him to do it again. He obliged. She stared. “It’s not hard.” he said, turning the desk into a hog, just as Professor Mcgonagall had done as a demonstration at the beginning of the class.

When class ended, Professor Mcgonagall decided to visit Professor Dumbledore. When she knocked the door, it opened revealing the professor, “Ah, Professor Mcgonagall, I was expecting you.” He looked up over his half-moon spectacles, “I expect it's about one Mr. John Smith.”

Yes Albus, he transfigured his match into a needle on his first try.”

”He has exhibited extraordinary knowledge in many of his classes. I think you should acknowledge all the teachers that we are to meet in my office tonight to discuss what we should do.” She nodded and exited the office.

Professor Mcgonagall and the other teachers arrived that night. Professor Snape wouldn't stop talking about what a star student John Smith was, and how he wanted to move him to his N.E.W.T. class.

”He was barely able to get off the ground.” Madam Hooch cut in,

”So he's not a flyer,” pipped in Professor Flitwick, “but after a little positioning with his wand, his levitation charm was perfect.”

“I have done us all a favor and have invited him to my office earlier today.” Professor Dumbledore announced over all the talking. With that, they all turned to look at the headmaster,

“And what have you learned?” Professor Flitwick asked, clearly interested in this curious boy,

“He is a good lier.” Professor Dumbledore laughed, “He says he’s an orphan, but found himself exposed to numerous wizards and spell books when he took residence in the _Leaky Cauldron_ for an extended period of time with his best friend Mr. Jack Harkness, who lacked his ambition for knowledge, which is why the Sorting Hat took so long to sort him, between his Ravenclaw-like knowledge, his Slytherin-like ambition, his Hufflepuff-like passion, and his Gryffindor-like courage.”

“So what does this tell us about him?” Professor Flitwick asked,

“That he has his backstory down and thoroughly thought out.” They nodded, Everyone thought for a moment, not sure what to make of this boy,

“Perhaps you should try Legilimency?” Professor Mcgonagall suggested, referring to the wizard-equivalent of mind-reading,

“Perhaps.” Professor Dumbledore said thoughtfully,

“I will have him meet me for Occlumency lessons,” Professor Dumbledore said, Occlumency being the art of magically closing one’s mind to Legilimency. We should get this sorted out before the other schools arrive.”

“And what about his classes?” Professor Mcgonagall cut in, “there is no question that he needs more advanced classes.” Professor Dumbledore thought for a moment, before turning to Professor Binns, the only Ghost teacher,

“Where would you like to place him for History of magic?”

“First year.” Professor Binns replied, “He clearly has no idea about history, he keeps interrupting classes to make up a ridiculous story about an event.”

“Very well, first year. Pomona?”

“First year. He clearly has a lot of knowledge of plant life, but nothing is compared to experience.” Professor Sprout said, Professor Dumbledore nodded,

“Severus?”

“Seventh year.” Professor Snape said confidently,

“No. That’s ridiculous.” Professor Mcgonagall announced,

“He recreated a safer, easier solution to a potion I’ve been teaching for years in a matter of minutes after looking at the instructions.” He showed the potion the Doctor had made to Professor Dumbledore. Professor Dumbledore nodded slowly, deep in thought,

“What about his social life? It would be ridiculous to put him in a group of students six years older than him!” Professor Mcgonagall said,

“How about a private lesson?” Professor Snape suggested, Professor Dumbledore nodded,

“That sounds reasonable.” Professor Dumbledore nodded,

“Minerva, where would you have him placed?”

“I don’t know Albus.” Professor Mcgonagall admitted, "his Transfiguration was flawless. I don’t think he’d learn anything.” Knowing that hearing that from professor Mcgonagall meant there was nothing more he could do for him, Professor Dumbledore said,

“We’ll take him out of Transfiguration then, he can add some extra curriculars.” Professor Mcgonagall nodded, “Fillius?”

“He was flawless in charms after a little help with his wand work.” Professor Flitwick said, then, finding a good mid-ground of social life and academic intelligence, said, “Fourth year.”

“What about flying? Should we remove him?” Professor Dumbledore asked Madam Hooch?

“No. He could barely get off the ground.”

“First year then. What about astronomy Aurora?” Professor Sinistra, the astronomy teacher,

“I haven’t had him yet, so we should keep him in first year.” Professor Dumbledore nodded silently,

“I would like you to notify him of this alteration at breakfast.” Professor Dumbledore said to Professor Mcgonagall, than the meeting dispersed.


	8. The Prophecy

Breakfast the next morning was particularly difficult for the Doctor. He had been found talking to Jack at the Slytherin table, and the Slytherins were not very happy about one of their Slytherin boys mingling with a Gryffindor, and as a first year, everyone seemed to find it easy to push him around. So he and Jack retreated to the library. “So much for ‘acting normal’ Doctor.” Jack laughed. The Doctor grinned at Jack, and all of a sudden, Professor Mcgonagall came rushing in,

“There you are!” they looked up, “Mr. Smith, I have your new schedule.” She handed him a schedule, “you have been placed in a private lesson for potions, fourth year classes for Defence Against the Dark Arts and Charms, and you’ve been removed from Transfiguration.” The Doctor nodded as the Professor continued, “You’ll also need a minimum of three electives.” She handed him a list,

_The Study of Ancient Runes_

_Muggle Studies_

_Divination_

_Care of Magical Creatures_

_Arithmancy_

_Alchemy_

The Doctor looked up at Professor Mcgonagall, “I have taken the liberty to sign you up for all of them. I would encourage you to go to each class, and inform me if you’d like to drop out of any of them.” The Doctor nodded,

“And I’d like you to meet Professor Dumbledore in his office after lunch today.”

“Okay.” The Professor hurried off, and Jack looked sadly at the Doctor,

“Now we won’t be in many classes together.” The Doctor shrugged,

“We’ll have the Triwizard Tournament to hang out at. I don’t expect to be interested in any of that.” Jack shrugged,

“Who knows.”

* * *

 

The Doctor’s next class was Divination in the North Tower. The Doctor sprinted up the stairs, and into the classroom. He was the first one there besides the Professor. She was sitting by a crystal ball. The Doctor turned his back, but behind him heard,

 _“Your song is ending.”_ The Doctor whipped around, shocked at the reminder of the prophecy the Ood had made. The professor had gone rigid in her armchair; her eyes were unfocused and her mouth sagging.

“Professor!” But she didn’t seem to hear him, at first the Doctor thought it was a seizure, but then he realized it was a prophecy. He watched her eyes begin to roll, and heard the harsh voice,

 _“Time is bleeding. Shapes of things once lost are moving through the veil, and these events of years ago threaten to destroy this future and the present and the past. This is what we have seen Doctor, the darkness holds only one thing; the end of time itself. Your song is ending, Doctor. It is returning through the dark. And then, Doctor, oh but then, he will knock four times. Every song must end.”_ The Professor’s head fell forward onto her chest. She made a grunting sort of noise. Then, quite suddenly, her head snapped up again.

“Hello Professor.” The Doctor smiled up at her, even if the smile wasn’t genuine,

“I’m so sorry, dear boy,” she said dreamily, “the heat of the day, you know… I drifted off for a moment…”

“No, you told a prophecy.” The Doctor informed her,

“Did I?” What was it?”

“It doesn’t matter.” The Doctor dismissed it, “I just wanted to let you know that I’m the first year that will be joining your classes.” She nodded and the Doctor sat down.

“Your ora is troubled.” The Professor announced, after studying the Doctor, “Troubled, and unnatural. You are a strange boy.” The Doctor nodded. He watched as students entered the classroom, breathing heavily. Clearly not used to the amount of running-up-stairs as the Doctor had been. A young and very pretty red-headed girl sat next to him, she reminded him slightly of Donna. That thought brought pain across his hearts. He missed her.

“You’re the first year who sits with my brothers, yeah?” She asked,

“Fred and George? Yes.” She nodded,

“I’m Ginny.”

“I’m John.”

“Nice to meet you John, er, if you don’t mind me asking, what are you doing here?”

“Learning? What are you doing here?” The Doctor grinned at his own joke,  
“Maybe you’re lost then, this is a third year class.”

“I know.” The Doctor handed her his schedule, her eyes widened,

“What?” She said,

“you’re-” was all Ginny managed to make out,

“Yep.” the Doctor said, popping the ‘p’ enthusiastically,

“Welcome.” The Professor’s soft, misty voice sounded suddenly from the shadows. “How nice to see you in the physical world at last.” Most people seemed to think she was nuts, but the Doctor understood that she just was more exposed to the psychic field. “Welcome to Divination. My name is Professor Trelawney. You may have not seen me before. I find that descending too often into the hustle and bustle of the main school clouds my Inner Eye.” Professor Trelawney delicately rearranged her shawl and continued, “So you have chosen to study Divination, the most difficult of all magical arts. I must warn you at the outset that if you do not have the Sight, there is very little I will be able to teach you. Books and only take you so far in this field…” The Doctor knew this was true. Divination was only able to be accessed by those with a better connection to the psychic field. Not much better, not even close to the level the Doctor was at, but better. “Many witches and wizards, talented though they are in the area of loud bangs and smells and sudden disappearances, are yet unable to penetrate the veiled mysteries of the future. The Gift is granted to few. You, boy,” She said suddenly to a boy to the Doctor’s left, “Is your older sister well?”

“I think so.” the boy said, clearly now unsure,

“I wouldn’t be so sure if I were you, dear,” The boy looked as if he was about to faint, but Professor Trelawney just continued, We will be covering the basic methods of Divination this year. The first term will be devoted to reading the tea leaves. Next term we shall progress to palmistry. By the way, my dear, She shot a look to a girl in pigtails close by, “Beware the growling dog.” The girl’s eyes widened, “In second term,” She continued, “we shall progress to the crystal ball -- if we gave finished with dire omens, that is. Unfortunately, classes will be disrupted at the end of the Triwizard Tournament after an untimely death.” A very tense silence followed this, but the Professor seemed unaware of it. “I wonder, dear,” She said to a brown haired girl who was nearest, and shrank back into her chair, “if you could pass me the largest silver teapot?” The girl looked relieved, and stood up and passed the teacup. “Thank you my dear. Incidentally, the boy you are looking for will join you after the Triwizard Tournament.” The girl’s eyes brightened, and her smile widened. “Now, I want you all to divide into pairs. Collect a teacup from the shelf, come to me, and I will fill it. Then sit down and drink, drink until only the dregs remain. Swill these around the cup three times with the left hand, then turn the cup upside down on it saucer, wait for the last of the tea drain away, then give your cup to your partner to read. You will interpret the patterns using pages five and six of _Unfogging the Future_. I shall move among you, helping and instructing. The Doctor and Ginny swilled the cups as they had been instructed. The Doctor read Ginny’s leaves first,

“You’re going to face a deadly challenge after an attack, there will be grieving, but at the end, you will find true love.” Ginny nodded, not sure what to think, nodded, and reached for the other cup, but the Doctor tapped the top of her hand and warned, “Careful, mine i'll be a lot worse.” Professor Trelawney approached, clearly interested in what the first years’ be like. Her eyes widened,

“You’ve got the grim!” The Doctor nodded,

“I know.” His response lead her to look deeper into the cup,

“You have lived a long and dangerous life and lost many friends, you have seen much war and bloodshed, and your future is to be determined, but your end is near.” The Doctor nodded, understanding. The whole class was looking at him, but he paid no attention to them. “What did you make of Ginevra’s tea leaves?” The Doctor told her of his findings, she nodded, “Your Inner Eye is open.”


	9. Care of Magical Creatures

The Doctor headed to his private lesson with Professor Snape. “Ah, Mr. Smith.” He said as the Doctor stepped into the classroom. He then handed the Doctor the forgetfulness potion recipe. “Please recreate the potion.” Professor Snape instructed.

The Doctor soon finished the potion, and also recreated his next potion, the herbicide potion. Once Snape was satisfied with his work, he was sent to his next class, Care of Magical Creatures with the third years. The Doctor saw the Professor, Professor Hagrid as he remembered from the great hall, waiting for the class at the door of his hut. He wore a large moleskin overcoat, with a large boarhound at his heels, looking impatient.

“C’mon, now, get a move on!” He was calling as the class approached, the Doctor could tell by the combination of red and green, that this was a class with the Slytherins, not that he had any problem with that. Unlike most other students, he didn’t judge people by their house. “Got a real treat for yeh today! Great lesson comin’ up! Everyone here? Right, follow me!” They followed Professor Hagrid as they strolled around the trees, and four minutes and 54 seconds later, they found themselves outside a kind of paddock. There was nothing there. “Gather ‘round the fence here!” He called, “That’s it-- make sure yeh can see -- now, firs’ thing yeh’ll want ter do is open yer books --” The Doctor  picked up a spare book. To his disappointment, it was just a normal book. He thought the Professor would have something more exciting. He voiced this to Professor Hagrid, who grinned widely, “I did last year!” He announced loudly, “It was the Monster’s Book of Monsters, it would run around.” He laughed, “Anyway, you must be that first-year I was told about.”

“Oh, we were warned about you.” The Slytherin boy slyly walked up to the Doctor, clearly the Doctor being in higher classes had traveled around the school quickly, probably by Ginny because she had seen his schedule. He towered over the Doctor’s small size, so the Doctor stuck his hand out, and said,

“John Smith, and you are?” The boy knocked the Doctor’s hand aside,

“My name is Jamison Envoy.” He drawled, and pushed the Doctor over again,

“It’s nice to meet you James.” The Doctor grinned, knowing his friendliness was frustrating to the Slytherin boy, “Can I call you James?”

“No.” Jamison snapped,

“Righ’ then,” Professor Hagrid said trying to break up the two of them, “So -- so yeh’ve got yer books an’ -- an’ now yeh need the Magical Creatures. Yeah. So I’ll go an’ get ‘em. Hang on…” He strode away out of sight. After a moment, he saw across the paddock, trotting toward them were a dozen of these creatures that had the bodies, hind legs, and tails of horses, but the front legs, wings, and heads of what seemed to be giant eagles, with cruel, steel-coloured beaks and large, brilliant orange eyes. The talons of their front legs were half a foot long and deadly looking. Each of the beasts had a thick leather collar around its neck, which was attached to a long chain, and the ends of all of the paddock behind the creatures. It wasn’t by any means the most bizzare creatures he had ever seen, but they were a bit strange.

“Gee up, there!” he roared, shaking the chains and urging the creatures toward the fence where the class stood. Everyone except the Doctor drew back slightly as Professor Hagrid reached them and tethered the creatures to the fence,

“Hippogriffs!” the Doctor exclaimed excitedly, he had read about them and found the creatures fascinating. Professor Hagrid seemed overjoyed that the Doctor knew what they were,

“So, if you want to come a bit nearer --” Professor Hagrid began rubbing his hands together. No one seemed to want to except the Doctor.

“Now, firs’ thing yeh gotta know abou’ hippogriffs is, they’re proud. Easily offended, hippogriffs are. Don’t never insult one, ‘cause it might be the last thing yeh do. Yeh always wait fer the hippogriffs ter make the firs’ move. It’s polite, see? Yeh walk toward him, and yeh bow, an’ yeh wait. If he bows back, yeh’re allowed ter touch him. If he doesn’ bow, then get away from him sharpish, ‘cause those talons hurt.

“Right -- who wants ter go first?” Most of the class backed further away in answer, as the hippogriffs were tossing their fierce heads and flexing their powerful wings; they didn’t seem to like being tethered like this. The Doctor’s hand shot up,

“I’ll do it!” There was an intake of breath behind him,

“Good man, er-”

“John.” The Doctor smiled,

“Good man, John!” Professor Hagrid roared happily, “Right then -- let’s see how yeh get on with Chestnut.” He untied one of the chains, pulled the gray hippogriff away from its fellows, and slipped off its leather collar. The class on the other side of the paddock seemed to be holding its breath.

“Hemsworth doesn’t like the collar.” The Doctor said,

“Hemsworth?”

“That’s his name.” Professor Hagrid nodded in confusion. The Doctor walked slowly towards the hippogriff, making sure not to blink much.

“Hello.” The Doctor said to Hemsworth as he bowed to him,

“ _Hello_ ” Hemsworth responded, bowing back,

“I’m sorry about the humans.”

“ _Thanks. It’s not bad. Hagrid is a good man._ ”

“That’s good.”

“ _Yes._ ”

“I don’t mean to be rude, but may I please stroke you?”

“ _Yes you may, thank you for asking._ ” The Doctor began to stroke the hippogriff, he made a pleased grunt. The Doctor looked around at the other students gaping at him, knowing they had heard his part of the conversation, but not Hemsworth’s response.

“He likes yeh.” Professor Hagrid smiled, as the rest of the class stared at the tiny boy in awe petting this enormous creature.

“Righ’ then, John, I reckon he might’ let yeh ride him!” Unsure, the Doctor asked the hippogriff,

“May I please ride you?”

“ _You may, as long as you’re careful not to pull out any feathers_ ”

“Of course.” The Doctor said,

“ _You should climb up just behind the wing joint._ ” He instructed, the Doctor listened to him, and, to Professor Hagrid’s surprise, climbed up him just right.

“Go on, then!” Professor Hagrid roared, slapping the hippogriff’s hindquarters. Hemsworth flapped his twelve-foot wings flapped open on either side of the Doctor. It was much more comfortable than the broom. He told him this,

“ _Thank you._ ” Hemsworth responded, as they flew circles above the trees.

Soon, Professor Hagrid called them back down, and Hemsworth made a smooth landing. “Good work John!” the professor called, and everyone except the Slytherins cheered. “Okay, who else wants a go?”

Encouraged by the small boy’s success, the rest of the class climbed over the paddock. Soon, one by one, people were bowing nervously, all over thee paddock.

“John!” The Doctor wheeled around to see Ginny walking over to him.

“Yes Ginny?”

“What spell are you using?” She asked,

“What?”

“How are you talking to the hippogriffs?”

“I speak hippogriff.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“I speak everything.” Ginny gave the Doctor an unsure look, then, assuming he must crazy, turned away.


	10. Defense Against the Dark Arts

The Doctor was interested in what Professor Moody, would be teaching, as he had the nickname, Mad-Eye-Moody. He joined the Fourth-years, and quietly sat down, just as the last three students walked in. “You can put those away.” Professor Moody, indicated to the textbooks everyone had taken out. “Those books. You won’t need them.” He had a magical eye that zipped around in its socket, which was quite distracting. He began to call out each student’s name, ending with the Doctor’s John Smith name, as he was a last minute addition. His magical eye landed on the Doctor. “And you must be that first year.”

“Yes sir.” The Doctor said cheerily. Professor Moody huffed something about amateur students, then turned back to the class.

“Right then, I had a letter from Professor Lupin about this class. Seems you’ve had a pretty thorough grounding in tackling Dark Creatures -- You’ve covered boggarts, Red Caps, hinkypunks, grindylows, Kappas, and werewolves, is that right?” There was a member of confirmation, and the professor continued, But you’re behind -- very behind -- on dealing with curses, so I’m here to bring you up to scratch on what wizards can do to each other. I’ve got one year to teach you how to heal with Dark-”

“What are you saying?” Ron, a red-headed boy whose name the Doctor learned during the attendance, who looked much like Fred, George, and Ginny, blurted out. The professor’s magical eye spun around to stare at the boy, and after a moment of bewilderment, Professor Moody smiled.

“You’ll be Arthur Weasley’s son, eh? Your father got me out of a very tight corner a few days ago… Yeah, I’m staying just the one year. Special favor to Dumbledore… One year, then back to my quiet retirement.” The Doctor raised an eyebrow, seriously doubting this man could do something “quiet” even if he wanted to. “So -- straight into it.” the Professor smiled again and clasped his hands together, “Curses. They come in many strengths and forms. Now, according to the Ministry of Magic, I’m supposed to teach you countercurses and leave it at that. I’m not supposed to show you what illegal Dark curses look like until you’re in your sixth year. You’re not supposed to be old enough to deal with it ‘till then. Especially you.” He shot an irritated look at the Doctor, “But Professor Dumbledore’s got a higher opinion of your nerves, he reckons you can cope, and I say, the sooner you know what you’re up against, the better. How are you supposed to defend yourself against something you’ve never seen? A wizard who’s about to put an illegal curse on you isn’t going to tell you what he’s about to do. He’s not going to do it nice and polite to your face. You need to be prepared. You need to be alert and watchful. You need to put that away, Miss Brown, when I’m talking.” A tall girl with brown hair jumped and blushed fiercely. “So… do any of you know which curses are most heavily punished by wizarding law?” Several hands tentatively rose in the air, including Ron’s, but the Doctor’s hand was first in the air, but was neglected by the professor who pointed to Ron,

“Er, my dad told me about this one… Is it called the Imperius Curse, or something?”

“Ah, yes,” Professor Moody said appreciatively, “Your father _would_ know that one. Gave the Ministry a lot of trouble at one time, the Imperius Curse.” Professor Moody got heavily onto his mismatched feet that reminded the Doctor of the patchwork people. He approached his desk and pulled a glass jar out of his drawer with three large black spiders inside. The professor reached into the jar and pulled a spider out and held it in the palm of his hand so all the students could see it. Then pointed at it with his wand and shouted, “ _Imperio!”_ The spider leapt from his hand and began to swing backward and forward as though on a trapeze. It did some flips and cartwheels, and what looked like a tap dance. Most of the kids were laughing at this point, but Professor Moody growled, “Think it’s funny do you? You’d like it, would you, if I did it to you?” The laughter abruptly stopped, “Total control. I could make it jump out of the window, drown itself, throw itself down one of your throats…” The Doctor gave a shudder, he remembered the planet Midnight. That creature in his head. Controlling him. He wished never to feel that again. “Years back,” Professor Moody continued, “there were a lot of witches and wizards being controlled by the Imperius Curse. Some job for the Ministry, trying to sort out who was being forced to act, and who was acting of their own free will.

“The Imperius Curse can be fought, and I’ll be teaching you how, but it takes real strength of character, and not everyone’s got it.” The Doctor felt himself relax, “Better avoid being hit with it if you can. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!” The professor barked, making everyone jump. Professor Moody threw the spider back into the jar.

“Anyone else know one? Another illegal curse?” Hermione Granger and Neville Longbottom’s hand flew in the air, but not before the Doctor’s. Yet, once again, the Doctor was ignored, “Yes?” He pointed to Neville Longbottom,

“There’s one -- the Cruciatus Curse,” He said in a shaky voice. Professor Moody stared down the boy,

“Your name’s Longbottom?” Neville nodded nervously. The professor turned his back to the class, and reached for the next spider, “The Cruciatus Curse needs to be a bit bigger for you to get the idea,” he pointed to the spider with his wand, “ _Engorgio!”_ The spider swelled until it was slightly larger than a tarantula. Then, he muttered “ _Crucio_ ” All of a sudden, the spider’s legs bent in upon his body; it rolled over and began to twitch horribly, rocking from side to side. No sound came out, but the Doctor could hear it’s psychic screams. Normally, he wouldn’t be able to hear it, but it was so loud. So very loud.

“ _I’m sorry._ ” The Doctor called to him, “ _I’m so sorry._ ” The professor continued to intensify the spell, and the screams got louder, “Stop it!” The spider went flying away from the professor’s grips, as the Doctor’s outburst combined with the proximity to so many vessels, or wands, he had accidentally done wandless magic. At once, all the eyes in the room were on him. Without wavering his one good eye, the professor summoned the spider, and whispered,

“ _Reducio._ ” And the spider shrank back to normal size. The Doctor slid back into his seat, and the professor calmly said, “Does anyone know the last one?” This time, the Doctor’s presence wasn’t looked over, “Mr. Smith?”

“ _Avada Kedavra._ ” He said, voice full of rage, “The Killing Curse.”

“Yes. The last and worst.” Professor Moody said, “ _Avada Kedavra_ … the Killing Curse.” He placed his hand in the glass jar and grabbed the third squirming spider. “ _Avada Kedavra!_ ” The professor roared. There was a flash of blinding green light and a rushing sound, as though a vast, invisible something was soaring through the air, and the spider rolled on his back, dead. The Doctor was disgusted, innocent life taken away for the express reason of making a point, something he had come across many times, and was still as furious about it as he was the first time. “Not nice, not pleasant. And there’s no countercourse. There’s no blocking it. Only one known person has ever survived it, and he’s sitting right in front of me.” Everyone looked at the boy who had been introduced as Harry Potter. The name had rang a bell, and now the Doctor realized why. The Doctor was pulled back into the present after Professor Moody shouted, “CONSTANT VIGILANCE!” Once again.

They spent the rest of the lesson taking notes on each of the Unforgivable Curses. No one spoke until the bell rang to tell the class it was over. Everyone left the classroom in whispers, many of them about the Doctor, but the Doctor just ran to Lunch to try to find Jack.

“Jack!” The Doctor called to his companion from across the hall, and motioned to the door, wanting to retreat to the library. Jack grabbed a couple sandwitches and followed the retreating Doctor. The Doctor told Jack what happened. Jack was appalled as well.

After lunch, the Doctor made his way to Professor Dumbledore’s office. He arrived at the gargoyle that guarded the office. “May I please enter?” The Doctor asked,

“Do you have the password?”

“No?”

“Then you can’t come in.”

“But what if I was invited?”

“Then you’d have been given a password.”

“Do you have a name?” The Doctor asked,

“What?” The gargoyle said, surprised,

“A name, do you have one?”

“No one’s ever asked me that before.”

“So, do you have one?”

“No.”

“But what do you call yourself?”

“Just, the Guardian.”

“That’s not all that strange, I call myself the Doctor.”

“Why?”

“It’s a promise.”

“What kind of promise?”

“A promise to always help. That’s what doctors do.”

“That’s very mature of you.”

“Thank you, but why do you call yourself the Guardian?”

“Because I guard?”

“Exactly, it’s a promise for you too. You’re here to protect the Headmaster’s office.” The guardian seemed to think about this for a moment. “I will let the headmaster know you’re here.” After a moment, the gargoyle stepped aside, “Professor Dumbledore is waiting for you Doctor.”

“Thank you very much Guardian.” The Doctor smiled,

“Hello Mr. Smith.” Professor Dumbledore greeted him as he walked in the door.

“Hello Professor Dumbledore.”

“Did Professor Mcgonagall tell you why you are here?”

“No sir.”

“Well, I would like to teach you the art of Occlumency.” The Doctor’s eyes narrowed, not liking the idea of the professor wanting to get into his head. Not that he was concerned. He knew he could defend his mind from the headmaster, and he didn’t mind making it through the lesson, knowing there was no way Professor Dumbledore could get into his head.

“Okay.”

“You’ll need your wand out.” The Doctor pulled his wand out and faced Professor Dumbledore who softly said, “I am about to break into your mind, brace yourself, now… _Legilimens!_ ” Clearly Professor Dumbledore had expected an easy forced entry into the Doctor’s mind, but instead, it was like hitting a brick wall and Professor Dumbledore was shoved back inside his own head. He looked on in shock, “How-” the Doctor looked at him,

“I’ve had a lot of practice.” Professor Dumbledore could tell something was off, he wasn’t being the sweet, clever, confident, happy, boy. He was angry, he was so angry. He could tell why they wanted him to learn Occlumency, they knew they were prodding him, he knew. And he could tell by the way he had been trying to break into his head, what he was looking for. The truth. The honest truth.

“Let’s try again.” He said, “ _Legilimens!_ ’ This time Professor Dumbledore was looking at a more precise place, clearly trying as hard as he could to infiltrate the Doctor’s mind, but once again, the Doctor pushed him out again. Professor Dumbledore looked at the Doctor again, he looked in his eyes. He hadn’t noticed this before, but his eyes were ancient. His eyes were old. So old. And so full of rage. He was clearly not happy with his second attempt. “Why don’t you go back to your common room?” Professor Dumbledore suggested, which shocked himself. He would normally not give into someone, especially a student, so easily, but the boy, this mysterious ‘John Smith’ scared him somehow, which was exceptianally strange for him. He’d fought Death Eaters, Lord Voldemort himself, and yet when he saw the little boy’s rage, it scared him. He was just a little boy, but his rage had clearly not been the immature nature that is most little boy’s rage. It was an ancient, mature rage. He watched the boy walk off, and he immediately called Professor Mcgonagall and Professor Snape to his office to discuss.


	11. The New Students

Defence Against the Dark Arts didn’t get better after that first lesson. The Doctor watched as Professor Moody stood in front of the class and announced that he would be putting the Imperius Curse on each of them in turn, to demonstrate its power and to see whether they could resist its effects. “That’s Illegal.” The Doctor announced angrily, “Article 65 of the Shadow Proclamation say that it is illegal to take control of a semi-intelligent or intelligent being.” Professor Moody looked at him,

“The Shadow Proclamation? Don’t be absurd.” He laughed. The Doctor starred the professor down, but said nothing more, knowing it would only make him look like a lunatic. Not to mention, that he had full confidence that he had enough ‘strength in character’ to defend himself.

“But you _did_ say it’s illegal, Professor.” Hermione said uncertainty, “You said -- to use it against another human was-”

“Dumbledore wants you taught what it feels like.” The professor cut her off, “If you’d rather learn the hard way -- when someone’s putting it on you so they can control you completely -- fine by me, you are excused. Off you go.” The professor began to beckon students forward. Dean Thomas was forced to hop three times around the room singing the national anthem, while Lavender Brown imitated a squirrel, and Neville performed a series of gymnastics that would be up to par with some of the gymnasts on Himnastiko 7. Not one of them seemed able to fight off the spell until Harry Potter went up. He relaxed all his muscles but his legs when the professor cast the spell, but when he was told to jump onto the desk, Harry tried to jump, and stop himself from jumping, so he smashed his head onto the desk. “Now that’s more like it!” Professor Moody growled, “Look at that, you lot… Potter fought! He fought it, and be damn near beat it! We’ll try that again, Potter, and the rest of you pay attention -- watch his eyes, that’s where you see it -- very good, Potter, very good indeed! They’ll have trouble controlling _you_!” He made Harry do it four more times, until he could resist it completely he had said, but the Doctor managed to stop Harry’s torture by asking,

“Can I try?” The class once more turned to the Doctor, and Professor Moody grinned,

“Be my guest.” Harry shot him a grateful smile, and the Doctor turned to look directly at the professor, who clearly didn’t expect him to be able to resist at all. “ _Imperio!_ ” He called, the Doctor felt a wonderful feeling, he felt a floating sensation as every thought and worry in his head was wiped gently away, leaving nothing but a vague happiness. He felt relaxed, and his body knew it was wrong, so he ended up standing up much straighter than the relaxed Harry. More like a general. “Run around the desk.” Professor Moody ordered, but the Doctor refused, standing in a perfectly still, rigid position. The professor gazed at him with fascination, then, added more force, the Doctor could feel it, and more, and more, so much of the professor’s concentration was on him, he was trying so hard, and the Doctor felt the resistance begin to weaken and his head began to burn. All of a sudden, he thought of Jack, of what would happen to him if he were here, which his reason told him wouldn’t happen because he was in first-year classes, but reason was fleeting, and anger burnt up inside him. He screamed, and Professor Moody’s wand went flying across the room, leaving everyone in a stunned silence.

When the Doctor arrived in the entrance hall, he found a large crowd of students. His small form was easily able to slip through the crowd. He read the sign of interest,

 

**TRIWIZARD TOURNAMENT**

_The Delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving at 6 o’clock on Friday the 30th of October. Lessons will end half and hour early. Students will return their bags and books to their dormitories and assemble in front of the castle to greet our guests before the welcoming feast_

 

“Only a week away!” A Hufflepuff cried. The Doctor paid no attention to the Triwizard Tournament, but Jack seemed pretty excited.

On the thirtieth of October, the school was buzzing with excitement. The Doctor found that by breakfast, the Great Hall had been decorated with enormous silk banners hung on each wall, each one representing a Hogwarts House: red with a gold lion for Gryffindor, blue with a bronze Eagle for Ravenclaw, yellow with a black badger for Hufflepuff, and green with a silver serpent for Slytherin. Behind the teachers, a large Hogwarts crest was placed. The Doctor sat down with Fred and George, who were sitting next to Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who seemed inseparable. They all were whispering about the Triwizard Tournament, so the Doctor ignored their conversation, but eventually, with nothing better to do, tuned in. Hermione was talking about House Elves. The Doctor had read a bit about them,

“From what I can tell, they're a bit like Ood.” The Doctor told Hermione, who looked taken aback,

“What’s an Ood?” She asked,

“They’re a slave race, or were, they lived to serve, because they didn’t understand independence. The way I see it Hermione, if you want to make a difference, you should be helping the House Elves understand that they are free to make whatever choice they want, and that there’s no shame in asking for a salary.” Hermione stared at the small boy in front of her,

“I- I never thought- that could work!” She was grinning now,

“John Smith, right?” She seemed much happier than the previous time she had interacted with him,

“Yes, but I tend to go by ‘the Doctor’.”

“You call yourself, ‘the Doctor’?”

“Yep.” the Doctor smiled, popping the ‘p’.  Hermione nodded, deep in thought.

“Thanks.” George breathed, “I thought she’d never leave us alone.”

Soon, the students of Hogwarts school were being lined up and organized. Soon, there were fingers pointing to the sky, “There!” Students were calling, with the Doctor’s superior vision, he could see the carriage led through the air by a dozen winged horses flew towards them. Soon, the carriage made a bumpy landing and the door opened. A boy in pale blue robes jumped down and unfolded a set of golden steps. He sprang back respectively, and a woman, around the size of Professor Hagrid, stepped out. The Doctor assumed she was a half-giant as well. Professor Dumbledore began to clap, and the students followed,

“My dear Madame Maxime,” he said, “Welcome to Hogwarts.”

“Dumbly-dorr,” Her deep voice rumbled, “I ‘ope I find you well?”

“In excellent form, I thank you.”

“My pupils,” Madame Maxime waved one of her hands behind her, and the Doctor adjusted his focus on about a dozen boys and girls all, by the look of them, were in their late teens who had just emerged from the carriage. Madame Maxime and Professor Dumbledore continued to speak, and the Doctor looked at the shivering Beauxbatons. They were wearing fine silk robes, and none of them had cloaks, though some had scarves and shawls.

Soon, a muffling rumbling sound filled the air, and the Doctor spotted a large ship raise out of the water. “Dumbledore!” A figure called from the massive ship,”How are you, my dear fellow, how are you?”

“Blooming, thank you, Professor Karkaroff,” Professor Dumbledore called back.

They soon returned into the school. The students from Beauxbatons had chosen seats at the Ravenclaw table, and were looking around the Great Hall with glum expressions on their faces, three of them were still clutching their scarves and shawls around their heads. The Doctor walked over to meet them. “Hello.” He smiled to them. The Ravenclaws seemed a bit confused by the Gryffindor’s arrival, but they didn’t seem to mind, shifting over to let him sit down.

“‘Ello.” The French girl said nervously, then it struck the Doctor, she was French. He smiled and said,

“Bonjour, je m'appelle John Smith. Quel est ton?” _Hello, my name is John Smith. What is yous?_ The girl he was speaking to perked up, as well as many of the other French girls around her,

“Salut, je suis Alice Couture. Ravi de vous rencontrer. Parlez-vous beaucoup français?” _Hi, I'm Alice Couture. It's nice to meet you. Do you speak much French?_

“Je parle couramment” _I speak fluently_. The Doctor responded.

By the time Professor Dumbledore had stood up to announce the beginning of the feast, the girls seemed much more comfortable in their surroundings.

“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, ghosts and -- most particularly -- guests.” Professor Dumbledore began, “I have great pleasure in welcoming you all to Hogwarts. I hope and trust that your stay here will be both comfortable and enjoyable. The Tournament will be officially opened at the end of the feast. I now invite you all to eat, drink, and make yourselves at home!” The plates filled with food, and this time with much more variety than usual. Many dishes came from France, and many Russian dishes. The Doctor continued to have pleasant conversations with the French girls, one of whom were half-veela. A veela were known as a race of semi-human, semi-magical humanoids. They look like young, beautiful humans, and their looks as well as their dance is magically seductive to almost all male humans and some female humans. The Doctor grinned at Jack, who was eyeing the half-veela, and winked. All the Beauxbatons girls seemed excited to sign up for the Triwizard Tournament.

Once the golden plates had been wiped clean, Professor Dumbledore stood up again.

“The moment has come.” He smiled to the starring crowd, “the Triwizard Tournament is about to start. I would like to say a few words of explanation before we bring in the casket. Just to clarify the procedure that we will be following this year. But first, let me introduce, for those who do not know them, Mr. Bartemius Crouch, Head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation, and Mr. Ludo Bagman, Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports.” There was an applause, “Mr. Bagman and Mr. Crouch have worked tirelessly over the last few months on the arrangements for the Triwizard Tournament, and they will be joining myself, Professor Karkaroff, and Madame Maxime on the panel that will judge the champions’ efforts.” Mr. Filch who had been lurking, unnoticed in the corner, approached Professor Dumbledore with a great wooden chest encrusted with jewels. A murmur of interest crossed the students, “The instructions for the tasks the champions will face this year have already been examined by Mr. Crouch and Mr. Bagman and they have made the necessary arrangements for each challenge. There will be three tasks, spaced throughout the school year, and they will test the champions in many different ways… their magical prowess -- their daring -- their powers of deduction -- and, of course, their ability to cope with danger.” The hall was silent, every student thinking, “As you know, three champions compete in the tournament, one from each of the participating schools. They will be marked on how well they perform each of the Tournament tasks and the champion with the highest total after task three will win the Triwizard Cup. The champions will be chosen by an impartial selector: the Goblet of Fire.” The headmaster pulled out his wand and tapped the casket three times. The lid creaked slowly open. He pulled out a large, roughly hewn wooden cup that was filled to the brim with dancing blue-white flames. “Anyone wishing to submit themselves as a champion must write their name and school clearly upon a slip of parchment and drop it into the goblet. Aspiring champions have twenty four hours in which to put their names forward. Tomorrow night, Halloween, the goblet will return the names of the three it has judged most worthy to represent their school. The goblet will be placed in the entrance hall tonight, where it will be freely accessible to all those wishing to compete.

“To ensure that no underage student yields to temptation, I will be drawing an Age Line around the Goblet of Fire once it has been placed in the entrance hall. Nobody under the age of seventeen will be able to cross this line.

“Finally, I wish to impress upon any of you wishing to compete that this tournament is not to be entered into lightly. Once a champion has been selected by the Goblet of Fire, he or she is obligated to see the tournament through to the end. The placing of your name in the goblet constitutes a binding, magical contract. There can be no change of heart once you have become a champion. Please be very sure, therefore, that you are wholeheartedly prepared to play before you drop your name into the goblet. Now, I think it is time for bed. Good night to you all.” The Doctor wished bonne nuit, _goodnight,_ to the Beauxbatons, and headed to bed, not in any way prepared for the day ahead of him.


	12. The Fourth Champion

The next morning, the Doctor knew exactly where to find Jack. He walked into the Entrance Hall, where he did indeed find the immortal, staring longingly at the cup. “Don’t tell me you want to enter.” The Doctor looked at Jack,

“I don’t know.” Jack murmured, “I don’t have much to worry about, I can’t die.” The Doctor rolled his eyes,

“But don’t pretend for even a moment it’s worth the pain. Glory’s never worth the pain.” Jack nodded, he hadn’t expected the Doctor’s words to be so simple, yet so wise. They sat down and watched students place their names in the cup. The Doctor watched as Fred, George, and a boy name Lee Jordan came running up to Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who too were watching. The Doctor walked over, curious what was so exciting.

“Done it!” Fred said triumphantly, “Just taken it.”

“What?” Ron asked

“Ageing potion, dung brains.” Fred grinned,

“One drop each.” George said, “We only needed to be a few months older.”

“We’re going to split the thousand Galleons between the three of us if one of us wins.” Lee said. The Doctor doubted the Professor Dumbledore would leave that loophole, said,

“Wait.” The six of them looked at him as he pulled out his sonic, and scanned the age line, “Nope.” He laughed, “It’s not going to work.”

“What?” Fred asked, “Why not?”

“There’s an enchantment against that.”

“What’s that?” George pointed to the sonic screwdriver,

“It detects charms and enchantments.” The Doctor half-lied. Fred and George shrugged, clearly that wasn’t going to stop them. They stepped into the circle, and for a moment, thought it had worked, as they had given a triumphant yell, but, as if they had been thrown by an invisible shot-putter, they landed painfully, ten feet away, on the cold stone floor, and both sprouted identical long white beards. The Hall rang with laughter, even Fred and George joined in.

“I did warn you.” A deep, amused voice said, and everyone turned to look at Professor Dumbledore coming out of the Great Hall.

Fred and George were sent to the Hospital wing, accompanied by Lee, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione went to breakfast, but the Doctor and Jack stayed. “What would happen if I crossed the line?” Jack asked the Doctor, “Or you? We are old enough, but we’re in kids bodies.” The Doctor laughed,

“I honestly don’t know Jack, but if I were you, I wouldn’t try.”

When the Doctor and Jack opened the candlelit Hall, it was almost full. Thanking the Ravenclaws for letting him sit with them, the Doctor sat back where he had been for the previous feast with the Beauxbatons girls. From across the Hall, he saw Fred and George, freshly shaven, who were taking their failure quite well. The feast seemed to take much longer than the previous ones, but soon, the golden plates returned to their original spotless state, and there was a sharp upswing in the level of noise within the Hall, which died almost instantly as Professor Dumbledore got to his feet. “Well, the goblet is almost ready to make its decision, I estimate that it requires one more minute. Now, when the champions’ names are called, I would ask them please to come to the top of the Hall, walk along the staff table, and go through into the next chamber where they will be receiving their first instructions.” He waved his wand and all the candles except those inside the pumpkins extinguished. The Goblet did shine even brighter now. The flames inside the goblet turned suddenly red again, and sparks began to fly from it. The next moment, a tongue of flame shot into the air, a charred piece of parchment fluttered out of it -- the whole room gasped as Professor Dumbledore caught the parchment in mid-air. “The champion for Durmstrang will be, Viktor Krum.” A storm of applause erupted across the tables, while Professor Karkaroff boomed,

“Bravo Viktor! Knew you had it in you!”

Soon, the next piece of parchment shot out of the goblet, and was caught. “The champion for  Beauxbatons, is Fleur Delacour!” The half-veela rose from her seat, and the Doctor clapped extra loud for his new friend. The other Beauxbatons girls were sobbing, so the Doctor began to comfort them in French, calming them down, and letting them dry their eyes.

The next piece of parchment flew out of the cup, “The Hogwarts champion is, Cedric Diggory!” The applause lasted so long, that Professor Dumbledore had to make himself heard again, “Excellent!” He called, “Well, we now have our three champions. I am sure I can count upon all of you, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, to give your champions on, you will contribute in a very real-” But the headmaster suddenly stopped speaking, as the Goblet of Fire had turned red again. A long flame shot out, and another piece of parchment shot out of it. Professor Dumbledore seized the parchment. He held it out, and stared at the name written upon it. There was a long pause, during which he continued to stare at the slip in his hands, and everyone in the room stared at him. Then, he cleared his throat, and read out, “John Smith.”


	13. The Champions' Meeting

The Doctor sat in the stunned silence in total confusion, something he was not accustomed to. What? How? He felt everyone’s eyes in him. There was nothing but silence, not a single whisper. Professor Dumbledore straightened up and repeated, “John Smith. John! Up here, if you please!”

“Aller.” _Go._ One of the French girls encouraged. The Doctor stood up, and suddenly felt so small. He walked down through the door, following the other champions. When he entered, the three champions were grouped around the fire.

“Est-ce qu'ils veulent nous de retour dans le Hall?” _Do they want us back in the Hall?_ Fleur asked him, knowing he spoke French,

“Non…” _No…_ The Doctor said, for once speechless. Ludo Bagman hurried in and grabbed the Doctor by his arm and muttered,

“Extraordinary! Absolutely extraordinary! Gentlemen… lady. May I introduce -- incredible though it may seem -- the _fourth_ Triwizard champion.” Everyone looked at Mr. Bagman as though they had heard wrong.

“Oh, very funny joke, Meester Bagman.”

“Joke?” Mr. Bagman repeated, bewildered. “No, no, not at all! Mr. Smith’s name just came out of the Goblet of Fire!” They stared at the Doctor,

“But evidently zair ‘as been a mistake,” Fleur said, “‘E cannot complete. ‘E is much too young.”

“Well…it is amazing, but as you know, the age restriction was only imposed this year as an extra safety measure. And as his name’s come out of the goblet…I mean, I don’t think there can be any ducking out at this stage…It’s down in the rules, you’re obligated…John here will just have to do the best he-” But just as the Doctor said,

“But I don’t even want to compete.” The door behind them opened, and Professor Dumbledore, Mr. Crouch, Professor Karkaroff, Madame Maxime, Professor Mcgonagall, and Professor Snape came hurrying in.

“Madame Maxime!” Fleur said at once, “Zey are saying zaat zis little boy is to compete also!” The Doctor almost rolled his eyes, little, maybe, but he was quite a bit more experienced than any of these other champions.

“What is ze meaning of zis, Dumbly-dorr?” Madame Maxime asked impatiently,

“I’d rather like to know that myself, Dumbledore,” Professor Karkaroff agreed, “ _Two_ Hogwarts champions? I don’t remember anyone telling me the host school is allowed two champions -- or have I not read the rules carefully enough?” He gave a nasty laugh,

“ _C’est impossible,_ ” Madame Maxime said, “‘Ogwarts cannot ‘ave two champions. It is most unjust.”

“We were under the impression that your Age Line would keep out younger contestants, Dumbledore.” Karkaroff said, “Otherwise, we would, of course, have brought along a wider selection of candidates from our schools.”

“It’s no one’s fault but Smith’s, Karkaroff.” Professor Snape said softly, but gave a slight, regretting look at the Doctor, “Don’t go blaming Dumbledore for Smith’s determination to break rules.”

“Thank you, Severus,” Professor Dumbledore said firmly, then rounded on the Doctor, “Did you put your name in the Goblet of Fire, John?” He asked, calmly.

“No.” The Doctor said truthfully, “I don’t want anything to do with this competition.

“Zis is ze truth.” Fleur said, “‘E told me.”

“He could not have crossed the Age Line, I am sure we all agreed on that-”

“Dumbly-dorr must ‘ave made a mistake wiz ze line,” Madame Maxime shrugged,

“It is possible, of course,” Professor Dumbledore said politely,

“Dumbledore, you know perfectly well you did not make a mistake!” Professor Mcgonagall said angrily, “Really, what nonsense.” John could not have crossed the line himself, and as if Professor Dumbledore believes that he did not persuade an older student to do it for him, I’m sure that should be good enough for everybody else.” She shot an angry look at a defensive Professor Snape.

They continued to bicker, claiming it wasn’t fair. The Doctor turned to Fleur, “Croyez-vous que je ne mens pas?” _Do you believe I wasn't lying?_ He asked her. She thought for a moment, then said, “Oui.” _Yes._

Eventually, the Doctor heard them come to a consensus, and they turned their attention to the four champions. “Well, shall we crack on, then?” Mr. Bagman asked, looking rather excited, “Got to give our champions their instructions, haven’t we? Barty, want to do the honors?”

“Yes.” Mr. Crouch said, “Instructions. Yes… the first task…” He moved into the fire light. “The first task is designed to test your daring, so we are not going to be telling you what it is. Courage in the face of the unknown is an important quality in a wizard… very important…”

“But courage is not a matter of not being frightened, sir.” The Doctor said, and once again, the room swiveled onto him,

“Then what is it Mr. Smith?” He asked, not expecting an answer,

“It’s being afraid, and doing what you have to do anyway.” The room was in an awed silence at the small boy’s wisdom,

“That is very wise, John.” Professor Dumbledore said thoughtfully. Mr. Crouch continued,

“The first task will take place on November twenty-fourth, in front of the other students and the panel of judges.

“The champions are not permitted to ask for or accept help of any kind from their teachers to complete the tasks in the tournament. The champions will face the first challenge armed only with their wands. They will receive information about the second task when the first is over. Owing to the demanding and time-consuming nature of the tournament, the champions are exempted from end-of-year tests. I think that’s all, is it Albus?”

“I think so,” Professor Dumbledore said with mild concern.

Soon, Madame Maxime was leading Fleur out of the room after a quick “bonne nuit” _goodnight_ from the Doctor, and Professor Karkaroff beckoned to Viktor Krum. “John, Cedric, I suggest you got to bed.” Professor Dumbledore advised. The Doctor and Cedric nodded, and headed out. The castle’s halls were deserted now,

“So,” Cedric smiled, “It looks like we’ll be competing against each other.” The Doctor only nodded, deep in thought, who would have done this to him? No student, no teacher. An enemy then? There were so many. One with a strong psychic field. The Master. The name shot into his head. No, he was dead. Or was he? It wasn’t the first time. But he was gone for good, he had refused to regenerate. But his prophecy, he would knock four times. Cedric interrupted his thoughts, “So… tell me… How _did_ you get your name in?”

“I didn’t.” The Doctor said truthfully, “I was telling the truth, I want nothing to do with this.”

“Ah… okay.” Cedric didn’t seem to believe him. “Well… see you, then.” Cedric headed down the stone steps, and the Doctor waited for him to go, then ran to the Slytherin Dormitory. He slid in, Jack had told him where the invisible wall was, only to find a room full of Slytherins. They didn’t see him, so he slid back out, knowing they would get him into more trouble. It made him think, normally he would just bound in the room. Maybe the kid hormones were messing with him, making him more conscious of his image. Or maybe he just didn’t want to deal with this tonight. He headed back to the Gryffindor Dormitory, only to find Jack curled up outside the portrait hole.

“Jack!” The Doctor called to the immortal man,

“Doctor!” He called back,

“Why are you out here?”

“They wouldn’t let me in, and I needed to wait for you.” The Doctor laughed,

“I took a pit stop to the Slytherin Dormitory first, it was full of furious Slytherins, so I decided to come back here.” Jack laughed,

“Oh, she told me what happened.” Jack indicated to the woman in the portrait,

“How did you know?” The Doctor asked her,

“Violet told me everything.” The woman indicated to the woman in her painting with her. The Doctor rolled his eyes, not wanting to listen to any more,

“Balderdash.” The Doctor said,

“It most certainly isn’t!” Violet said defensively,

“No, no, Vi, it’s the password.” The lady in his painting said soothingly, and the portrait swung open, and Harry invited Jack inside. Waiting for him, were Fred, George, Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

“You should’ve told us you’d entered!” Fred called,

“How did you do it without getting a beard? Brilliant!” George grinned,

“I didn’t.” The Doctor pushed through the twins, who stopped Jack,

“What are you doing here?” He asked the Slytherin,

“Talking with my friend.” Jack said,

“Don’t worry, I invited him.” The Doctor pulled Jack over to the fireplace, where they took a couple chairs. The twins kept asking questions, but finally, frustrated with the Doctor’s answers, retreated to their beds along with Ron and Hermione. Jack and the Doctor decided to meet the next night after dinner at the library, and Jack returned to his dormitory. Harry sat down next to the Doctor. The Doctor sat in the chair with his legs curled to his chest, head in his hands.

“Are you alright?” Harry asked him,

“Yeah.” The Doctor lied,

“You sure?” Harry asked, “you look exhausted, you should get some sleep.”

“Nah, I’ll do that later.” Harry nodded, then asked,

“Did you put your name in the Goblet?”

“No.” Choosing to believe him, Harry stood up, “You should get some rest.” He advised the Doctor.

“Thanks.” The Doctor watched him head to bed. Was it the Master? Who else could it be? A surprising number of people. Right? He closed his eyes, maybe Harry was right. Maybe he should sleep.


	14. The First Task

At breakfast, the Doctor sat back down with the Beauxbaton girls and told them what happened. They were much nicer than everyone else this morning. The Doctor suspected why, he found beings tended to trust those who could speak their native language more than those who couldn’t. The Doctor suspected that the school would be more angry with him, if they thought he was a greater threat.

The Doctor was in his private lesson with Professor Snape, when there was a knock on the dungeon door. It was Colin Creevy, Dennis’ older brother.

“Yes?” Professor Snape said curtly,

“Please, sir, I’m supposed to take John Smith upstairs.”

“Mr. Smith has another hour with me. Come back when he’s finished.” Professor Snape waved a hand to dismiss the boy,

“Sir -- sir, Mr. Bagman wants him. All the champions have got to go, I think they want to take photographs.” Professor Snape nodded,

“Very well, you may finish when you return.” He dismissed the Doctor. He followed Colin,

“Why do they want pictures?” The Doctor asked the boy,

“The _Daily Prophet_ I think.” Colin said, referring to the magical newspaper. The Doctor almost laughed, the last time he was in that, he was Merlin. He sparked the myth of the magical man. “Good luck.” Colin gave him a smile as they reached the right room. The Doctor knocked on the door and entered. It was a fairly small classroom; most of the desks had been pushed away to the back of the room, leaving a large space in the middle; three of them,however, had been placed end-to-end in front of the blackboard and covered with a long length of velvet. Mr. Bagman sat in a chair next to a woman in magenta robes. Viktor, Cedric, and Fleur, were already there, Cedric and Fleur were in deep conversation, but Viktor was alone in his little corner. Mr. Bagman spotted John quickly, and bounded forward.

“Ah, here he is! Champion number four! In you come, John, in you come… nothing to worry about, it’s just the wand weighing ceremony, the rest of the judges will be here in a moment-”

“Wand weighing?” The Doctor quirked an eyebrow, slightly bemused,

“We have to check that your wands are fully functional, no problems, you know, as they’re your most important tools in the tasks ahead. The expert’s upstairs now with Dumbledore. And then there’s going to be a little photo shoot. This is Rita Skeeter,” He gestured to the woman in the magenta robes, “She’s doing a small piece on the tournament for the _Daily Prophet_ …”

“Maybe not _that_ small, Ludo.” Rita Skeeter eyed the boy, “I wonder if I could have a little word Mr. Smith before we start?” She asked, “The youngest champion, you know… they say they haven’t seen a boy with grades like his since Merlin.” The Doctor almost laughed again,

“Certainly!” Mr. Bagman cried, “That is -- if John has no objection?”

“Actually-” The Doctor began, but Rita Skeeter cut him off,

“Lovely.” And pulled him into a nearby broom cupboard. “We don’t want to be in there with all that noise.” She picked herself carefully on an upturned bucket.

“You won’t mind, John, if I use a Quick-Quotes Quill? It leaves me free to talk to you normally. The Doctor had never heard of the quill, so nodded, and she drew out a long acid-green quill from her crocodile bag where it stood, balanced on its point, quivering slightly, “Testing… my name is Rita Skeeter, _Daily Prophet_ reporter.” The quill began to scribble, and the Doctor saw, it read,

_Attractive blonde Rita Skeeter, forty-three, whose savage quill has punctured many inflated reputations,_

The Doctor didn’t care much about his reputation, but this slightly bothered him. “So, John, what made you decide to enter the Triwizard Tournament?” She asked,

“I didn’t enter. I never wanted any part in this. It’s just mindless violence for entertainment. I have just as much of an idea as you. I can only hypothesize.”

“Come on John, there’s no need to be scared of getting into trouble. We all know you shouldn’t really have entered at all, but don’t worry about that. Our readers love a rebel.”

“That’s a shame, because I’m not one.” The Doctor felt a twinge, knowing how big a lie that was,

“How do you, as a first-year, feel about the tasks ahead? Excited? Nervous?” She asked,

“I don’t want anything to do with any of this.” The Doctor responded,

“Champions have died in the past, haven’t they? Have you thought about that at all?”

“Yes.” The Doctor said flatly, ready to leave this interview.

“So, how do you feel about being known as the best first-year since Merlin?”

“I’m not surprised we’re being compared,” The Doctor said truthfully, “But he was a very different man.” Rita Skeeter nodded, and suddenly, the cupboard opened, and Professor Dumbledore was standing in front of them.

“Dumbledore!” Rita squealed, with every appearance of delight, but the Doctor noticed her quill was out of sight.

There was a bit of uncomfortable bantering, but soon, the Doctor was pulled out of the cupboard. He was sent into the room with the other champions. “May I introduce Mr. Ollivander,” Dumbledore announced, “He will be checking your wands to ensure that they are in good condition before the tournament.”

“Mademoiselle Delacour, could we have you first, please?” Mr. Ollivander said. Fleur handed over her wand, and Mr. Ollivander began to examine it, “Hmmm… Yes, nine and a half inches… inflexible… rosewood… and containing… dear me…”

“An ‘air from ze ‘ead of a veela, one of my grandmuzzer’s.” Fleur said,

“Yes, yes, I’ve never used veela hair myself, of course. I find it makes for rather temperamental wands… however, to each his own, and if this suits you…” Then, he muttered, “ _Orchideous!_ ” And a bouquet of flowers burst from the top, “Very well, very well, it’s in fine working order.” He turned to Cedric, “Mr. Diggory, you next.” Fleur gilded back to her seat, as Cedric approached the man. “Ah, now, this is one of mine, isn’t it?” Mr. Ollivander seemed very pleased at the fact, as Cedric handed over his wand, “Yes, I remember it well. Containing the single hair from the tail of a particularly fine male unicorn… must have been seventeen hands; nearly gored me with his horn after I plucked the tail. Twelve and a quarter inches… ash… pleasantly springy. It’s in fine condition… you treat it regularly?”

“I polished it last night.” Cedric grinned. Mr. Ollivander sent a stream of silver smoke rings across the room, and pronounced himself satisfied.

“Mr. Krum, if you please.” Ollivander called Viktor Krum up, who marched over and thrust his wand dramatically,

“Hmm. This is a Gregorovitch creation, unless I am mistaken? A fine wand-maker, though the styling is never quite what I… however… Yes… hornbeam and dragon heartstring. Rather thicker than one usually sees… quite rigid… ten and a quarter inches… _Avis!_ ” A blast like a gun and a number of small birds came flying out. “Good.” Viktor returned to his seat, “Which leaves… Mr. Smith.”The Doctor got to his feet and handed over his wand, “Yes, yes, yes. This is another one of mine… Maplewood… Phoenix core… 10 inches.” He continued to examine it until he made a fountain of wine shoot out, and announced it was in perfect condition.

“Thank you all.” Professor Dumbledore said to the champions, “You may go back to your lessons now -- or perhaps it would be quicker just to go down to dinner, as they are about to end-” The Doctor got up to leave, but not before Mr. Bagman excitedly cried,

“Photos, Dumbledore, photos! All the judges and champions, what do you think, Rita?”

“Er -- yes, let’s do those first, and then perhaps some individual shots.”

 

Before he knew it, the first task was upon him. He ate lunch with the Beauxbatons girls, who seemed supportive of him, even Fleur who he was competing against. He was then escorted to the grounds. After calls of “Bonne chance” _Good luck_ , from the girls, he followed Professor Mcgonagall. She seemed very worried for him, despite not being very fond of him.

“Now, don’t panic,” She said, “just keep a cool head… We’ve got wizards standing by to control the situation if it gets out of hand… the main thing is just to do your best, and nobody will think any the worse of you… Are you alright?”

“Of course.” The Doctor lied, afraid he’d have to slay some “beast.”

When they arrived, the professor wished him good luck, and left him with Mr. Bagman who hurried up to him.

“John! Good-o! Come in, come in, make yourself at home! Well, now we’re all here -- time to fill you in! When the audience has assembled, I’m going to be offering each of you this bag,” He held up a small purple sack and shook it in front of them, “from which you each select a small model of the thing you are about to face! There are different -- er -- varieties, you see. And I have to tell you something else too… ah, yes… your task it to _collect the golden egg_!”

Soon, thousands of feet were pounding around them, and the purple sack was opened. “Ladies first,” Mr. Bagman said politely and offered it Fleur first. She pulled out a small green model dragon with a number two around its neck. “A Welsh Green.” The Doctor could tell by her lack of a reaction, that she already knew they were fighting dragons. The same held true for Viktor Krum, who pulled out a Chinese Fireball with a number three. Cedric pulled out a Swedish Short-Snout with a number one. The Doctor was last, dipping his steady hand into the bag, he pulled out the last dragon, the Hungarian Horntail. It had black scales, and was lizard-like in appearance. It’s yellow eyes had vertical pupils, and it had bronze horns and similarly colored spikes protruding from its tail. “Well, there you are!” Mr. Bagman said, “You have each pulled out the dragon you will face, the numbers refer to the order in which you are to take on the dragons, do you see? Now, I’m going to have to leave you in a moment, because I’m commentating. Mr. Diggory, you’re first, just go out into the enclosure when you hear a whistle, all right?” Cedric nodded, and Mr. Bagman left. The whistle was blown, and Cedric, looking quite green, entered the enclosure. The Doctor sat down next to Fleur, who was shaking.

“ESt ce que ça va?” _Are you okay?_ He asked her. She nodded fearfully.

After Cedric, Fleur went, then Viktor. The Doctor waited, Maybe if he could just talk to the dragon. The Dragon must be lonely, that’s how it usually was. Soon, the whistle was blown, and the Doctor stepped into the enclosure. The Hungarian Horntail snapped her jaw and struck her tail into the ground threateningly, “What’s your name?” The Doctor asked her. The dragon gave him the most awestruck look, and said,

“ _Whismyri_ .” then questioned, “ _Who are you who knows how to speak_?”

“I’m the Doctor, Time Lord, last of.” The Doctor responded calmly, “And I need your help, then I can help you.”

“ _What is it you need?_ ”

“That egg.” The Doctor pointed to the golden egg in the midst of real eggs, “Not your children, never your children.”

“ _Not the children…_ ”

“I can free you, please let me help.” The Doctor said. Whismyri hesitated, the said,

“ _Dodge right._ ” And her tail came flying. The Doctor took her advice, and jumped to the right. He understood what she was doing, they had an audience to please. After ten solid minutes of running, jumping, and dodging, she left him a path to the egg, which he took. The moment he grabbed it, the crowd erupted in cheers and Whismyri was restrained, and just before she disappeared, she called,

“ _Make good on your promise, Time Lord!_ ” The Doctor turned to Professor Mcgonagall, who was waiting.

“Flawless!” She exclaimed, “Not a scratch, and you didn’t shoot a spell! Impeccable!” The Doctor picked up the Golden egg, and headed to collect his score, when Fred and George came running up to him,

“That was brilliant!” Fred called,

“Yeah, you were by far the best.” George nodded, “No competition. Cedric did this weird thing where he Transfigured a rock on the ground… turned it into a dog… he was trying to make the dragon go for the dog instead of him. Well, it was a pretty cool bit of Transfiguration, and it sort of worked, because he did get the egg, but he got burned as well -- the dragon changed its mind halfway through though, and decided it would rather have him. He only just got away.”

“Yeah, and that Fleur girl tried this sort of charm, I think she was trying to put it in a trance -- well, that kind of worked too, it went all sleepy, but then it snored, and this great jet of flame shot out, and her skirt caught fire -- she put it out with a but if water out of her wand.” Fred added,

“And Krum, he hit it with some sort of spell right in the eye. Only thing is, it went trampling around in agony and squished half the real eggs -- they took marks off for that, he wasn’t supposed to do any damage to them.” George said. The Doctor’s brow furrowed, they were more concerned about marks than innocent life. Innocent life the Earth would now never see. He reached the end of the enclosure to see his marks.

“It’s marks out of ten from each one.” Fred informed the Doctor. Madame Maxime went first, a silver ribbon shot from her wand and formed a ten. The crowd cheered, Mr. Crouch shot out another ten, and the crowd exploded again, next was Mr. Bagman, another ten. The crowd was loud enough for the sensitive Doctor to be tempted to plug his ears. Professor Karkaroff was last, four. There was a small cry of outrage from the twins who began cursing at him, but the Doctor didn’t care. He had bigger things to think about, like a dragon named Whismyri.


	15. The Golden Egg

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has a lot of French translation in it. If you know French and see any mistakes, please let me know. I mostly used Google Translate for this, so it probably has many mistakes. Thank you.

* * *

 

The Doctor soon observed that the egg was surprisingly heavy. He scanned it when he got back to the dormitory and away from the party that had been set for him, dragging Jack along with him. Fortunately no one noticed. The Doctor scanned the egg. “What do you think it is?” Jack asked,

“There’s nothing giving off any signature inside it.” The Doctor said thoughtfully,

“Did you try your wand? You know, for enchantments?” Jack suggested,

“I don’t need a wand for checking enchantments.” The Doctor said, then switched settings on his sonic screwdriver and began to check. After around ten minutes of scanning, the Doctor announced that he’d have to put it underwater to open it up. They headed to the bathroom, and got into the bath.

“Oh, trying to get me into the bath with you?” Jack grinned at the Doctor while he watched the Doctor slide in. The Doctor rolled his eyes,

“Just get in Jack.” Jack hopped in next to him, splashing him. “It’s not a swimming pool.” The Doctor said, pulling the egg down under the water, “Ready?”

“Yes.”

“One, two, three.” Both boys stuck their heads under the bath water and opened the egg. They heard a beautiful voice come out,

 

_“Come seek us where our voices sound,_

_We cannot sing above the ground,_

_And while you’re searching, ponder this:_

_We’ve taken what you’ll sorely miss,_

_An hour long you’ll have to look,_

_And recover what we took,_

_But past an hour -- the prospect’s black,_

_Too late, it’s gone, it won’t come back.”_

 

The Doctor looked at Jack, “We need someone who can’t speak above the ground, someone on Earth I expect,”

“Judging by the fact that we had to go underwater, that’s probably where they live,” Jack said helpfully,

“Yes, underwater, they speak English…” Then, the Doctor’s eyes widened as he realized what it was, “Merpeople!” He exclaimed.

The next morning, Jack and the Doctor were in the library before breakfast, reading about merpeople, when Professor Mcgonagall hurried in, “Mr. Smith.”

“Yes professor?” The Doctor looked up from the book he was reading,

“There is going to be a Yule Ball. It is traditional to the Triwizard Tournament. It is only open to fourth-years and up, but you are an exception because you’re a champion. You will need dress robes and the ball will take place 8 o’clock on Christmas Day, finishing at Midnight in the Great Hall. You will need a dance partner.” The Doctor seemed to soak up the information faster than Jack did,

“Okay,” he said cautiously, “Do our partners have to be fourth-year and up?” Professor Mcgonagall seemed relieved that he might have an idea who he would be going with,

“Yes, they are welcome.” Jack grinned at the Doctor,

“Oh, I’d be honored.” Professor Mcgonagall nodded,

“Then you’ll need dress robes as well Mr. Harkness.” Professor Mcgonagall left the library, and Jack smiled at the Doctor,

“I’m always surprised how tolerant they are here.”

“They’re more about blood-status.” The Doctor informed him,

“You could be gay and pure-blood, and no one would give a damn.”

“Speaking of surprise,” Jack began, “I was surprised how fast you got away from that dragon. The Doctor told Jack about the Hungarian Horntail, Whismyri.

“We need to help her.” The Doctor said,

“Nothing like a good rescue mission for a date.” Jack said cheekily. The Doctor’s eyes rolled,

“Don’t start Jack.”

They agreed to head to the forbidden forest that night, as neither of them needed much sleep, and that was the only place on the grounds they could hide creatures of that size. So together, they grabbed their books and headed to breakfast. The Doctor decided it would be best to team up with someone for the second task, and Fleur Delacour was an obvious choice. She was the only who hadn’t underestimated him, and now that people knew what he was capable of, was kind to him. At first, students didn’t mind his entry all that much because they didn’t think he would be any good, being only a first-year, but after the dragon, many had turned on him. He sat down with the Beauxbatons girls again, who were chatting happily in French until they spotted him,

“John!” Chloe called to him, “C'est bon de te voir.” _It is good to see you._

“C'est bon de vous voir aussi.” _It’s good to see you too._ The Doctor responded, “Puis-je vous parler une minute?” _Can I talk to you for a minute?_ The Doctor asked Fleur,

“Sûr” _Sure_ Fleur shrugged. They pulled away from the other girls, and the Doctor asked,

“Avez-vous trouvé quelque chose sur l'œuf d'or ou la prochaine tâche?” _Did you find anything on the golden egg or the next task?_

“Non.” _no_ Fleur said, quite discouraged, “Rien. As tu?” _Nothing. Did you?_ The Doctor nodded and handed her a piece of paper with the riddle on it.

“Je supposais que cela signifiait Merpeople dans le lac Noir, mais je ne suis pas sûr. Que trouvez-vous dedans?” _I assumed it meant Merpeople in Black Lake, but I'm not sure. What do you find in it?_ The Doctor asked,

“Nous savons qu'il y a quelque chose qu'ils vont nous prendre, quelque chose d'important pour nous, et nous avons une heure pour le trouver. Si c'est dans le lac Black, nous devrons trouver un moyen de respirer sous l'eau.” _We know there is something they will take, something important for us, and we have an hour to find it. If it's in Black Lake, we'll have to find a way to breathe underwater._ Fleur said wisely, “Mais je me suis assuré de ne rien apporter ici qui soit précieux pour moi. Rien de tangible.” _But I made sure I did not bring anything that was precious to me. Nothing tangible._

“Je n'ai rien de précieux ici non plus.” _I have nothing precious here either._ The Doctor thought for a moment, as Fleur asked,

“Donc, si ce n'est pas un objet, que pourrait-il être?” _So, if it's not an object, what could it be?_

“Peut-être une personne? La seule chose qui compte pour moi est Jack. Avez-vous quelqu'un de spécial ici?” _Maybe a person? The only thing that matters to me is Jack. Do you have someone special here?_ The Doctor said,

“Oui!” _Yes!_ Fleur called out suddenly, “Gabrielle est ma soeur!” _Gabrielle is my sister!_

“Donc, dans la prochaine tâche, nous devons trouver un moyen de respirer dans le lac Noir pendant une heure et naviguer pour trouver Gabrielle et Jack parmi Merpeople.” _So, in the next task, we have to find a way to breathe in Black Lake for an hour and navigate to find Gabrielle and Jack among Merpeople._ The Doctor summed up, “Savez-vous de quelle façon nous pouvons respirer sous l'eau?” _Do you know how we can breathe underwater?_ He asked. Fleur shook her head, and the Doctor shrugged, “Je vous dirai si j'apprends quelque chose d'autre au sujet de la tâche” _I'll tell you if I learn something else about the task._

“Merci.” _Thank you_ Fleur smiled, and they joined back in with the other Beauxbatons girls,

“Avez-vous une date pour le bal de Noël?” _Do you have a date to the Yule Ball?_ Jeanne asked the Doctor,

“Oui, je le fais.” _Yes, I do._ The Doctor said, hoping these girls wouldn’t overwhelm him with requests, but they simply smiled in understanding.


	16. A Dragon Named Whismyri

Jack and the Doctor headed to the Forbidden Forest at midnight, when no one would be up. “Whismyri!” The Doctor called into the Forest, and, after a moment of silence, Whismyri’s familiar roar responded,

“ _Is that you Time Lord?”_ The Doctor lead Jack further into the forest, calling back,

“Yes! It’s me! I’m coming!” They continued to talk as the Doctor and Jack ran through the trees,

“ _We didn’t think you would come_.” She said as the Doctor approached.

“We?”

“ _Yes, we. I have told the other dragons of your presence. Please save them too._ ”

“All you had to do was ask.” The Doctor smiled and looked around, they hadn’t been overheard because of the amount of comotion the other dragons were making. There were at least thirty wizards per dragon, shooting stunning spells,

“ _I told them to make a commotion. I said you’d come, but it is late and I began to doubt. When I heard your faint shout, I knew you were coming. I told them you could get them out too, and their eggs. Ron’spu is desperate to get out. Five of her eggs were crushed in that competition._ ” Whismyri spat the word ‘competition’ with disgust.

“If I get you out, and find a way for you to carry your eggs, will you all know the directions to go home?” The Doctor asked,

“ _No._ ” Whismyri said sadly, “ _We’ve traveled in captivity for so long. There’s no way any of us will remember._ ”

“Doctor, what’s wrong.” Jack asked, and the Doctor realized that Jack couldn’t hear their conversation. He explained the issue, and Jack nodded slowly, “Magic.” Jack said after a moment, “Couldn’t you just make a pouch to carry the eggs, and a compass?” The Doctor smacked his forehead with his hand,

“I forgot about magic!” He exclaimed, leaving Jack to roll his eyes. He told Whismyri the plan, and she agreed.

The Doctor created a large creature of smoke to scare off the wizards. It gave the illusion of crashing through the trees, and towards them. It worked just as well as he thought it would, the wizards tried to stun it, but, being smoke, it didn’t work and the spells flew right through it. They ran quickly, and the Doctor and Jack began to work to unlock the Dragon cages and equip them with pouches and each with a compass that would always point in the direction of their land of origin. Jack and the Doctor slipped the designated eggs into the pouches of Whismyri, Ron’spu, and the two the Doctor leaned, whose names were Rixsul and Pudraacshe. And, just as the wizards came running back over, the dragon’s took off, breathing fire in every direction except towards Jack and the Doctor. The Doctor heard a faint,

“ _Thank you!_ ” From the ascending dragons, and turned his attention to the wizards. He gave Jack a grin and said,

“Allons-y!”

Jack and the Doctor ran for the castle, and gave each other a wordless goodnight as they ran to their separate dormitories.


	17. The Yule Ball

The Doctor got up Christmas day, watching the other students grabbing their presents from the foot of the bed. The Doctor thought back to the last time he had gotten a present. He then closed the memory from his head. It hurt to think about. Memories of other Christmas’s filled his mind. Only last Christmas the Doctor was on the Titanic in space. Astrid. The name burnt in his head as well as so many others. So many. Too many. He decided to skip breakfast and take another look in the library for information about merpeople. He headed down the staircase and across the dormitory, when Fred, George, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were just leaving. He had hoped to avoid people, and he began to slide away from them, but they had already seen him. “John!” Fred called to him,

“Hey!” He put on his fake smile that he wore. They all were wrapped in Christmas gifts, sweaters, and hats, and such. They noticed his lack of new things,

“Get any presents?” George asked,

“No, but it’s fine.” The Doctor continued to give his ‘don’t worry about it’ grin,

“Seriously?” Harry asked him, “Nothing?” The Doctor shrugged. The smile on the others had faded as well, realizing that they hadn’t gotten the boy anything. “Don’t you have a family?” Fred asked, the Doctor shook his head, with a pang, remembering his family. His children. His grandchildren. His parents. Everyone. Dead.

“Don’t you have friends where you came from? You have Jack, didn’t he get you anything?” George asked,

“We didn’t get each other anything.” The Doctor shrugged. He had winced at the mention of friends, remembering Koschei, the way he used to be. Then, the image of the one thing he had been trying to hold back the whole time came flying through. Rose. His beautiful Rose. He remembered that Christmas he had spent with her. That Christmas had been more magical than Hogwarts ever could be. But she was gone. Gone with everything else he had ever touched. Everything was gone.

 

That night, the Doctor dressed in the dress robes the he had purchased in Diagon Alley. They were rather expensive, but didn’t look bad. He would have prefered the suit he normally wore as an adult, but he couldn’t find one in his small size. He met Jack in the entrance hall. They both were in identical robes, but neither of them minded. “Champions over here please!” Professor Mcgonagall called, and the Doctor and Jack walked over. They were placed next to Fleur and her date, Roger Davis, who looked stunned that he had Fleur for a partner. She winked at the Doctor in a friendly way, and the Doctor smiled back. Next to her, Cedric and a pretty girl named Cho Chang were standing.  And next to them was Viktor and Hermione. Hermione waved to the Doctor, who waved back. She seemed surprised at his date, but not in a judgemental way.

“You look beautiful.” The Doctor said to her, as her hair was no longer bushy, but sleek and shiny, and was twisted up into an elegant knot at the back of her head. She was wearing robes made of a floaty, periwinkle-blue material, and she was holding herself much straighter.

“Thanks John.” She smiled, “You look very nice as well.”

Once everyone else had been settled into the Great Hall, the champions were lined up in pairs and followed Professor Mcgonagall in. The hall applauded politely as they entered. They walked up to a large round table at the top of the Hall, where the judges were sitting. The walls of the Hall were covered in sparkling silver frost, with hundreds of garlands of mistletoe and ivy crossing the starry black ceiling. The House tables had vanished; instead, there were about a hundred smaller, lantern-lit ones, each searing about a dozen people. When the champions and their partners reached the table, and were sat down. Once the feast was nearing the end, he Doctor and Jack had been in such a deep conversation, they almost missed the que to get up. They followed the other champions to the floor. The Doctor lead, and Jack grinned the whole song. After that, many other students began to join in and dance, so that the champions were no longer alone. Ginny and Neville were dancing together, and Professor Dumbledore danced with Madame Maxime, and Professor Moody with Professor Sinistra, the astronomy teacher, Fred danced with Angelina, Parvati Patil was dancing with a Beauxbatons boy. After awhile of dancing, the Doctor and Jack sat down next to Harry and Ron, who had come without dates.

“Hey Harry, Ron.” Jack smiled. Harry smiled back, but Ron was scowling,

“Something wrong Ron?” the Doctor asked,

“Oh no, everything’s just _peachy_.” Ron said angrily. The Doctor followed Ron’s gaze to where Hermione was dancing with Viktor.

“Oh.” The Doctor said, “I understand.” Ron laughed blandly,

“You’re just a kid, you wouldn’t understand.” The Doctor grumbled something in Gallifreyan under his breath, and just said,

“If you want my advice, I would be nice, find things you’re both interested in, take some interest in the things she cares about, listen to her, make sure she knows how much you care. Girls like that.” He and Jack got back up to dance, leaving Ron deep in thought.

Once the dance ended, the Doctor and Jack wished each other goodnight and headed to their separate dormitories. But when the Doctor entered the Gryffindor common room, he saw Hermione and Ron yelling at each other,

“Well, if you don’t like it, you know what the solution is, don’t you?” Hermione was yelling,

“Oh yeah? What’s that?” Ron yelled back,

“Next time there’s a ball, ask me before someone else does, and not as a last resort!” Hermione stormed up the girls staircase,

“Hermione!” the Doctor called after her, but she did not return.


	18. The Second Task

Fleur had managed to find a charm to help them breathe underwater. The Bubble-Head Charm, she told the Doctor. He had found a way to navigate the lake, as he had placed a waterproof tracker on Jack without his knowing. The Doctor and Fleur walked to the golden-draped table at the edge of the lake and joined Cedric and Viktor. They both seemed confident, and clearly had either figured out the egg, or been told what the task would be. After whispering the spell, “ _Sonorus!_ ” Mr. Bagman’s voice boomed across the dark waters towards the stands, “Well, all our champions are ready for the second task, which will start on my whistle. They have precisely an hour to recover what has been taken from them. On the count of three, then. One… two… _three!_ ” The whistle echoed across the lake, and Fleur and the Doctor dove in, casting the bubble-head charm on themselves. He had told Fleur to follow him through the water, so the two of them followed the signal of Jack’s tracker to the bottom of the lake. They avoided the grindylows at the bottom of the lake with some of the Doctor’s quick talking, which surprised them immensely, and before they knew it, they were face to face with some merpeople. From what the Doctor knew about them, merpeople were underwater creatures found all over the world, that sparked the muggle myth of mermaids, and the Greek myth of sirens. They had greyish skin and long dark green hair. They had yellow eyes and broken teeth. Other than that, the Doctor did not know much of them. But they seemed more sensitive to the psychic field than wizards, because they sensed his difference to Fleur,

“ _Who are you?_ ” One asked in their native tongue, they were clearly able to speak English, but for now they were speaking Mermish. Her hair was wild and she wore thick ropes of pebbles around her neck. “ _You are different from the others. What are you?_ ”

“I’m the Doctor.” The Doctor introduced himself, “Time Lord, last of.” Their eyes widened and they let out a low hiss,

“ _Time Lord! You still live! Here to finish the job are you? You destroyed our planet! You will never be finished will you? Not until the whole universe it yours! But you are alone. You are the last. I will save the universe, you will die!_ ” She called the other merpeople to her side,

“Fuir!” _Run!_ The Doctor called to Fleur, tossing her the tracking device to her as the merpeople closed in on him. Suddenly, the Doctor saw a flash of light pierce the water from Fleur’s wand. The merpeople scattered, and she grabbed the still shocked Doctor’s arm and pulled him deeper. Unsurprisingly, the Doctor and Fleur were the first to the sleeping students. The Doctor saw the small Gabrielle that was Fleur’s sister, and the even smaller Jack. They grabbed stones and began to cut the two free, but the merpeople were far from finished with the Doctor, this time knocking Fleur out with the butt of a spear, sending her and Gabrielle up to the surface. Jack was just about cut free, hanging by a thread. He felt numerous spears trying to impale him as he ducked and twirled to get free, “Stop!” The Doctor was calling to them, “The Time Lords, I killed them!” The merpeople froze for a second, which was long enough for the Doctor to slide free, pulling Jack up with him. The Doctor was nearly unconscious when they reached the top, surrounded in orange blood. The Doctor saw Jack blink, looking slightly confused, until he saw the Doctor. He muttered a few choice words before pulling him away from the emerging merpeople and out of the water and back towards the bank. Madam Pomfrey, the School nurse began running to him, leaving a slightly shaking, but wide awake, Fleur and Gabrielle wrapped in blankets. Jack heard the Doctor murmur something in Gallifreyan, before falling unconscious.

The Doctor woke in the hospital wing in the midst of an argument, “No, he won’t want to be looked over,” Jack was yelling,

“But his heartbeat is erratic, he could be in danger,” Madam Pomfrey was yelling back,

“He’s not, it’s just a thing he does. He’s all healed. He can go now.”  
“I will be the one who determines that!”

“I’m fine.” The Doctor sat up, everything had been healed by now. Madam Pomfrey looked like she was about to knock him out again,

“Mr. Smith, you should be in bed.” she scolded him,

“What were the marks?” The Doctor turned to Jack,

“Well, you were put in second, because Fleur made it up before you.”

“But didn’t they take points for my injuries?” The Doctor asked,

“No, the merpeople admitted to interfering unfairly.”

“What about Cedric and Viktor?” The Doctor asked,

“Cedric was third, and Viktor was fourth, but points were deducted because he hurt Hermione.”

“Is she alright?” The Doctor jumped up, looking around the hospital wing,

“Just a few bite marks, he transfigured his head into a shark. She’s fine.” Jack raised an eyebrow, “How are you?”

“Excellent! Molto Bene!”

Once Madam Pomfrey reluctantly dismissed the two boys, they headed to the Gryffindor Common Room. There, Fred and George were sitting, along with Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

“John!” Hermione was the first to spot him, then she saw Jack, “What’s _he_ doing here?”

“He’s my friend.” The Doctor growled irritably,

“Hey,” Jack smiled, “I’m Jack Harkness.” He winked, she looked taken aback, speechless. Fred and George, who by now were used to Jack’s flirting, burst with laughter.

“Don’t encourage him.” The Doctor warned the twins,

“Are you alright John?” Hermione asked him,

“Yeah, I’m fine.” The Doctor smiled,

“What happened down there?” Harry asked,

“Doesn’t matter.” The Doctor shrugged, flashing him a smile. Jack quirked an eyebrow, but said nothing, resolving to ask the Doctor about it later.


	19. The Third Task

By the start of summer term, Jack and the Doctor were more than frustrated that they had made no progress on re-ageing themselves. The Doctor had tried working with Professor Snape on a potion, but he had refused because it was illegal for an underage wizard to make. He had tried to find it in textbooks, but the only one he could find was the aging potion that Fred and George used, that were made to trick spells, not physical appearances. The TARDIS was now there, the Doctor was very pleased about that, now being able to speak Gallifreyan and people would be able to understand him. One night, at nine o’clock, the Doctor was called to the Quidditch field with the other champions. But the field was no longer smooth and flat, it now looked as though someone had been building long, low walls all over it that twisted and crisscrossed in every directions out of hedges. “Well, what do you think?” Mr. Bagman asked happily as the Doctor climbed over the last hedge, “Growing nicely, aren’t they? Give them a month and Hagrid’ll have them twenty feet high. Don’t worry,” He added, grinning, to Cedric’s less-than-happy expression, “you’ll have your Quidditch field back to normal once the task is over! Now, I imagine you can guess what we’re making here?”

“A maze.” The Doctor said,

“That’s right!” Mr. Bagman exclaimed happily, “A maze. The third task’s really very straightforward. The Triwizard Cup will be placed in the center of the maze. The first champion to touch it will receive full marks.”

“We simply ‘ave to get through a maze?” Fleur asked,

“There will be obstacles,” Mr. Bagman was bouncing on the balls of his feet, “Hagrid is providing a number of creatures… then there will be spells that must be broken… all that sort of thing, you know. Now, the champions who are leading in points will get a head start into the maze. Miss Delacour and Mr. Smith, that will be you. Then Mr. Krum and Mr. Diggory will enter. But you’ll all be in with a fighting chance, depending how well you get past the obstacles. Should be fun, eh?” When no one nodded, he continued, “Very well… if you haven’t got any questions, we’ll go back up to the castle, shall we, it’s a bit chilly.”

 

Before he knew it, the Doctor found himself standing at the entrance to the enormous maze. “We are going to be patrolling the outside of the maze,” Professor Mcgonagall told the champions, “If you get into difficulty, and wish to be rescued, send red sparks into the air, and one of us will come and get you, do you understand?” Everyone nodded, and Bagman said,

“Off you go, then!” to the five potrollers. Then, in a magically magnified voice, Mr. Bagman spoke to the crowd, “Ladies and gentlemen, the third and final task of the Triwizard Tournament is about to begin! Let me remind you how the points currently stand! In first place, John Smith, with ninety points!” The Gryffindors cheered, and so did Jack and the Beauxbatons girls, but other than them, no one else. Mr. Bagman continued, “And in second place with eighty-two points, Miss Fleur Delacour!” This applause was louder, “In third place with seventy-six points, Cedric Diggory!” All the Hogwarts students erupted in applause, making Cedric’s applause easily the loudest. “And in fourth place with sixty-nine points, Viktor Krum!” The Durmstrang students clapped loudly, trying to outmatch Cedric’s. “So… on my whistle, Fleur and John!” Mr. Bagman said, “Three -- two -- one --” The short blast of the whistle sent the Doctor and Fleur running into the maze.

“Do you know where we are going?” Fleur asked him, thanks to the TARDIS, she was now being translated into Gallifreyan for the Doctor.

“Nope!” The Doctor grinned, and they continued to run.

“How can you see so well?” Fleur asked her after a few minutes of running. The Doctor’s superior vision had made it so he hadn’t noticed that Fleur probably wouldn’t be able to see anything.

“ _Lumos_.” He lifted his wand, They slowed down, now reaching a fork.

“Right or left?” She asked,

“Splitting up would be a bad idea.” The Doctor said thoughtfully,

“Let’s go left.” They headed to the left side, and, after another minute of walking, heard the whistle, notifying them that Cedric was now coming. Another minute passed, and the whistle blew one last time, notifying them that all the Champions were now in the maze. The maze was growing darker as the sun set, and Fleur and the Doctor reached the next fork,

“Which way?” Fleur asked again,

“Well, we need to go northwest, which is…” The Doctor held up his finger, “That way.” He pointed into the bush, “So we should go left, and then take the next available right.”

“I don’t understand you, John.” Fleur eventually said, “You don’t make sense.” The Doctor shrugged,

“I have that effect on people.” They continued to run, the Doctor slowing down to keep pace with Fleur, when they turned to see something in front of them. Fleur cried out. It was the Doctor. He stood there in his orange space suit, the same he did that day on Mars. “No, no, no, no.” The Doctor was saying,

“For a long time now, I thought I was just a survivor, but I'm not. I'm the winner. That's who I am. The Time Lord Victorious.”

“ _Redikulas!_ ” Fleur’s voice rang in the Doctor’s ears, and there was a loud crack and the older Doctor disappeared. “Boggart.” She smiled. The Doctor picked himself up off the ground,

“Thanks.” He said gratefully,

“Who was that, your dad?” She asked, and, knowing it would be too complicated to explain, the Doctor just replied,

“Yeah, something like that.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Fleur asked, but the Doctor showed no signs of giving a response. All of a sudden, a stunning spell came shooting out from nowhere.

“Look out!” The Doctor pulled Fleur out of the line of fire so it missed them by inches. They began to run, they weren’t quite sure where, but the Doctor had a vague idea of the direction. After a while of running, they heard Viktor’s voice,

“ _Crucio!_ ” Cedric’s voice rang out in a blood curdling scream. Fleur and the Doctor sprinted after the source of the noise, both with wands out,

“ _Stupify!_ ” Fleur shouted, hitting Viktor in the chest and sending him sailing across the air and into a bush, motionless.

“Cedric!” The Doctor called to the boy on the ground whom had been attacked, “Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” The boy gasped, “Yeah… I don’t believe it… he crept up behind… I heard him, I turned around, and he had his wand on me…” Cedric pulled himself up, still shaking. The Doctor pulled out his wand and shot red sparks in the air.

“You coming Cedric?” The Doctor asked as he and Fleur turned away to continue on their way,

“Nah, I’m going this way.” Cedric pointed to the left path and disappeared. After a while more of running, red sparks flew up in the air from across the maze, and Cedric cried out in pain.

“We’re the last ones.” Fleur said as they continued. Suddenly, they found an extraordinary creature.

“A sphinx!” The Doctor exclaimed when he saw her. She had the body of an over-large lion: great clawed paws and a yellowish tail ending in a brown tuft. Her head, however, was that of a woman. She turned her long, almond-shaped eyes upon the Doctor as he approached. Fleur had her wand raised, but the Doctor pulled her arm down as the sphinx spoke in her horse voice,

“You are very near your goal. The quickest way is past me.”

“Okay.” The Doctor replied, “Can you please move?”

“No.” She continued, “Not unless you can answer my riddle. Answer on your first guess -- I’ll let you pass. Answer wrongly -- I attack. Remain silent -- I will let you walk away from me unscathed.” The Doctor nodded,

“Brilliant, I love riddles! What is it?” Fleur looked less sure. The Sphinx sat down on her hind legs in the middle of the path and said,

“ _First think of the person who lives in disguise,_

_Who deals in secrets and tells naught but lies._

_Next, tell me what’s always the last thing to mend,_

_The middle of middle and end of the end?_

_And finally give me the sound often heard_

_During the search for a hard-to-find word._

_Now string them together, and answer me this,_

_Which creature would you be unwilling to kiss?_ ”

 

The Doctor thought for a moment, working it out in his head, Fleur looked puzzled. Then suddenly, the Doctor jumped up and shouted,

“I’ve got it!”

“What is it?” Fleur asked,

“A spider!” The sphinx smiled broadly, got up, and moved out of the way. “Thank you very much.” The Doctor smiled as he and Fleur continued further into the maze. Then, they saw a light. Faintly at first, but it gradually got brighter. It was the cup. The Triwizard Cup. The two of them approached it, “On three.” The Doctor said, “One… two… three!” Fleur and the Doctor grabbed the cup at the same time. The Doctor felt the rough sensation of vortex teleportation, and his feet left the ground.


	20. The Graveyard

The Doctor felt his feet drop back onto the ground, releasing the Triwizard cup. He looked around. It was a dark overgrown graveyard. He heard Fleur’s fearful voice, “Where are we? Is this a part of the task?”

“No.” The Doctor said confidently, “This is not a part of the task.” Then, through the darkness, a figure drew nearer. They walked steadily between the graves. Though it was dark, with the Doctor’s superior vision, he could see the man. “Peter?” The Doctor called out, “Peter Pettigrew?” The figure froze,

“How do you know me?”

“What are you holding?” The Doctor asked, staring at the large bundle that he had clutched to his chest,

“Are you the Doctor?” Peter asked,

“Why do you want to know?”

“That is him.” A cold, high voice pierced through the night,

“Who are you?” The Doctor asked, “I mean, I recognise Peter, but what happened to you?”

“Harry Potter happened.” The Doctor furrowed his brow,

“So, Riddle-” The voice made a hissing noise at the sound of his old name, “you were defeated by a baby thirteen years ago, so you arranged to meet me. Why do you need me? Wouldn’t you need Harry?”

“I thought so at first, but then I discovered you. You are unique. I desire your energy.” The Doctor laughed,

“A slightly psychic human from the 20th century isn’t going to get that far.” A high laughter sounded,

“Wormtail, continue, we do not need this chatter.”

“Wormtail?” The Doctor said, “Are you talking about Peter? That’s an awful nickname, though, I must give it to you for Voldemort, means “flight of death” in French, very clever. But Wormtail? It sounds more like an insult. Though, I don’t have a great past when it comes to names. Theta was just awful, but John is good. I like the name John…” As the Doctor continued to ramble, Peter seemed to be hesitating, while Fleur was just utterly confused.

“Torture him.” Voldemort ordered Peter, who did as he was told,

“ _Crucio!_ ” A jet of red light shot out of Peter’s wand, and hit the Doctor straight in the chest. A deafening scream escaped the Doctor’s lips. Once the light ceased, the Doctor was panting,

“Peter, stop, please.” But Peter did not seem softened by the Doctor’s small gasping figure. Having murdered plenty of children, it wasn't the first time Peter had encountered a begging child. He tied the Doctor in magically conjured ropes to a headstone. Once satisfied with the tightness of the ropes, he drew a lengthy black material from his cloak. He then shoved it into the Doctor’s mouth, then hurried away. The Doctor couldn’t make a sound, his best weapon, his mouth, was out of commission. Fleur had hidden behind a gravestone, and was rocking herself softly. The bundle sat by the foot of a grave labeled, _Tom Riddle_. A large snake slithered through the grass and began to circle the headstone where the Doctor was tied. Peter returned with a large stone cauldron to the foot of the grave that the bundle rested by, it seemed to be full of water. Peter busied himself at the bottom of the cauldron with his wand, creating crackling flames beneath it. The snake slithered away. The surface of the cauldron began to boil, sending out fiery sparks and a thickening steam. Voldemort’s voice yelled,

“Hurry!”

“It is ready now, Master.” Peter said,

“Now…” By this point, the Doctor had recovered from his attack, and was rapidly thinking of a plan. Peter put the bundle that was Voldemort into the cauldron, and began speaking,

“ _Bone of the father, unknowingly given, you will renew your son!_ ” Peter trickled dust into the cauldron. The surface hissed and sent sparks, turning a poisonous-looking blue. Peter was now whimpering, the Doctor had just managed to get the black material, when he heard Peter say, “ _Flesh -- of the servant -- willingly given -- you will -- revive -- your master._ ” He stretched his right hand in front of him, a hand that was missing a finger, and gripped a dagger in his left. The Doctor immediately knew what was about to happen,

“Peter! No! You don’t have to do this!” The Doctor screamed to him, but he proceeded, thrusting the knife down, and pierced the night with his scream. But he continued,

“ _B-blood of the enemy… forcibly taken… you will… resurrect your foe._ ” Peter fumbled with a glass vial, and held it to the Doctor’s face, and drew a long straight cut from his right ear to the right side of his mouth. He caught the orange blood in the vial, and pouted it inside the cauldron. Then, a surge of white steam billowed thickly from the cauldron, and a skeletally thin figure emerged from the cauldron,

“Robe me.” Voldemort ordered, Peter obayed.

After the smoke had cleared, the Doctor clearly saw Peter, kneeling to Voldemort, “My Lord… “ He choked, “my Lord… you promised… you did promise…”

“Hold out your arm.” Voldemort responded,

“Oh Master… thank you, Master…” He extended the bleeding stump, but Voldemort laughed coldly,

“The other arm, Wormtail.”

“Master, please… _please_ …” The Dark Mar. The Doctor knew a bit about this, it was a light psychic connection that would connect a number of followers to a master. Voldemort pressed it. He continued to talk with Peter. The Doctor remembered Peter, at least as he was. This hadn’t been the Doctor’s first time at Hogwarts. He taught there once, just to go undercover for a while. And he met Peter. He was a Gryffindor, a sweet boy, who often got picked on by his friends. The Doctor had encouraged him to go find another group of friends, and this was what he found. This is where he ended up. Out of nowhere, death eaters began appearing, coming to meet their Dark Lord after thirteen years of silence. They continued to talk, Voldemort hissing insults at all his other minions. The Doctor tried to reach for his sonic screwdriver, but found it impossible to reach, along with his wand.

After a while, Voldemort explained his fixsation on the Doctor, and turned his attention to him. He was dropped from his ropes, and Voldemort said, “The only way I may steal your energy, is by force.” The Doctor nodded, choosing to pull out his wand, “Do you know how to duel, Time Lord?” The Doctor nodded, “We bow to each other, come the niceties must be observed… Show your manners.” The Doctor made a curt bow to Voldemort, “Now you face me.” Voldemort’s smile curved creully, “And now we duel.” With the Doctor’s superior reflexes, he shot a spell, just as Voldemort had done so, easily overtaking the unexpecting Dark Lord. “Good reflexes.” He observed greedily, “You are something I must have. _Imperio!_ ” The Doctor felt the light sensation he had felt in Professor Moody’s classroom, and once again he easily resisted. At first. All of a sudden, the Doctor felt himself losing control again, and he shouted,

“ _Reducto!_ ” An explosion sounded where Voldemort stood, sending him flying backwards. Then, running to Fleur, the Doctor called to the Triwizard Cup, “ _Accio!_ ” Sending it flying towards them, and for once he looked back, and called, “I’m sorry Peter.” And they disappeared.


	21. Barty Crouch Jr.

The Doctor felt himself smash face-first into the grass, knocking the breath out of him. He was clutching Fleur’s hand so hard that their knuckles were white. He breathed slowly, and felt a pair of hands seize him roughly.

“John! _John_!” The Doctor pulled his eyes open, looking into the face of Professor Dumbledore. He was back to the edge of the Maze, a crowd of people around him, Jack front and center,

“Doctor!” he called,

“Jack?” the Doctor pulled himself up,

“John, what happened?” Fred’s voice sounded, Many of the French girls were calling Fleur’s name, and so was Bill Weasley, Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny’s older brother who had helped handle the dragons.

“I’ll take John.” Professor Moody told Dumbledore,

“And what about Fleur?” Professor Dumbledore asked,

“I’ll take ‘er Dumbly-dorr.” Madame Maxime said, helping Fleur to her feet. She shot a longing look at the Doctor, and followed Madame Maxime. The Doctor’s small body was half-dragged through the crowd, followed by a determined Jack.

“You can’t come.” Professor Moody told Jack, “Go back.”

“No way, I’m not leaving him.” Jack said, The Doctor shot him a grateful glance,

“Come this way, Jack.” Professor Dumbledore coaxed him, Jack shot one last angry look at Professor Moody, whom he clearly didn’t like, and followed the headmaster.

“What happened, John?” Professor Moody asked,

“The cup was a portkey, was brought to a graveyard, met Voldemort, wasn’t expecting that. Made a potion to recreate a body, used my blood, that could be a potential problem. Dueled a bit, escaped. Not much running, normally there’s more of that. So, nothing that out of the ordinary.” Professor Moody gaped at him, something that the Doctor hadn’t thought was capable for him to do.

“So, Voldemort is back?”

“Yes, shouldn’t I speak with Harry Potter about that?” The Doctor asked. Professor Moody nodded,  
“All in good time. Did the Death Eaters return?”

“Yes.”

“How did he treat them? Did he forgive them?” The Doctor furrowed an eyebrow at the professor’s question,

“Why do you want to know?”

“And Karkaroff flead.” Professor Moody changed the subject, much to the Doctor’s suspicions,

“Ah, I didn’t think he had put my name in the Goblet of Fire, a bit too obvious if you ask me.”

“No, he didn’t.” Professor Moody said slowly, “It was I who did that.”

“Really? What for?” The Doctor’s mind began thinking, “Oh, you wanted to take me to him first. Prove you’re worthy.”

“He forgave them then? The Death Eaters who went free? The ones who escaped Azkaban?” Professor Moody referenced the wizarding prison. The Doctor said cautiously,

“And why would I tell you?”

“Tell me!” the professor roared, “whether he forgave the scum who never even went to look for him. Those treacherous cowards who wouldn’t even brave Azkaban for him. The faithless, worthless bits of filth who were brave enough to cavort in their masks at the Quidditch World Cup, but fled at the sight of the Dark Mark when I fired it into the sky.” The Doctor shook his head,

“Why don’t you ask your lord yourself? If you braved that, he’s sure to forgive you.” But Professor Moody just continued, with an insane smile on his face,

“Tell me he hurt them, Doctor…” At the slip of the name the Doctor’s face changed,

“How much do you know about me?”

“You’ve been mentioned enough in books and legends, an extraordinary wizard, know as many things, one being Merlin. What the Dark Lord would give to have you. And yet, here you are, just barely out of his reach, and right in the palm of my hand. And now, I must render you unconscious, the Dark Lord is waiting.” Just as Professor Moody raised his wand, a voice shouted,

“ _Stupify_!” And there was blinding red light, with a great splintering and crashing. The office door was blown open, and standing in the doorway was Jack, leading Professor Dumbledore, Professor Mcgonagall, Professor Snape, Madame Maxime, and Fleur.

“I told you! I told you!” Jack was saying, helping the Doctor to his feet with Fleur by his side,

“Come along… hospital wing…” Professor Mcgonagall said to the Doctor,

“No.” He and Jack said in unison,

“I’m fine. Brilliant even!” Professor Mcgonagall raised an eyebrow,

“I’ll walk him to his dormitory.” Jack said helpfully,

“No way. Hospital wing.”

“I-” The Doctor began but Professor Mcgonagall cut him off,

“No. Hospital wing. Now.” A cry from behind them caused the three of them to turn around to look at the stunned Professor Moody on the floor, who was now beginning to change. Scars were disappearing, his skin was becoming much more smooth, his mangled nose became whole and was beginning to shrink. The long mane of grizzled gray hair was withdrawing into the scalp and turning the colour of straw. With a loud _clunk_ , the wooden leg fell away as a normal leg regrew in its place. Then, the magical eyeball had popped out of the man’s face as a real eye replaced it and rolled away across the floor and continued to swivel in every direction.

The Doctor saw the man lying before him, pale-skinned, slightly freckled, with a mop of fair hair. There were hurried footsteps outside in the corridor, and Professor Snape returned into the room with a house-elf at his heels. “Crouch!” he said, stopping dead in the doorway. “Barty Crouch!”

“Good heavens,” Professor Mcgonagall whispered, staring down at the man on the floor. The house-elf’s mouth opened wide, and she let out a piercing shriek.

“Master Barty, Master Barty, what is you doing here?” She flung herself onto the young man’s chest. “You is killed him! You is killed him! You is killed Master’s son!”

“He is simply Stunned, Winky,” Professor Dumbledore said, “Step aside please. Severus, you have the potion?” Professor Snape handed Professor Dumbledore a small glass bottle of clear liquid. Veritaserum. The Doctor easily identified the potion, it was a truth-telling potion. Professor Dumbledore got up, bent over the man on the floor, and pulled him into a sitting position against the wall beneath the Foe-Glass, in which the reflections of the professors were still glaring down upon them all. Winky remained on her knees, trembling, her hands over her face. Professor Dumbledore forced the man’s mouth open and poured three drops inside it. Then, he pointed his wand at the man’s chest and said,

“ _Ennervate._ ” Barty Crouch jr. as the Doctor recognised him from a book on wizarding law that he read, opened his eyes, his face slack, his gaze unfocused. The headmaster knelt before him, so that their faces were level. “Can you hear me?” Professor Dumbledore asked, Barty’s eyelids flickered,

“Yes.” He muttered.

“I would like you to tell us,” Professor Dumbledore said softly, “how you came to be here. How did you escape from Azkaban?” Barty took a deep, shuddering breath, then began to speak in a flat, expressionless voice.

“My mother saved me. She knew I was dying. She persuaded my father to rescue me as a last favor to her. He loved her as he had never loved me. He agreed. They came to visit me. They gave me a draft of Polyjuice Potion containing one of my mother’s hairs. She took a draft of Polyjuice Potion containing one of my hairs. We took on each other’s appearance.” Winky was shaking her head, trembling.

“Say no more, Master Barty, say no more, you is getting your father into trouble!” But Barty took another deep breath and continued in the same flat voice.

“The dementors are blind. They sensed one healthy, one dying person entering Azkaban, They sensed one healthy, one dying person leaving it. My father smuggled me out, disguised as my mother, in case any prisoners were watching through their doors.

My mother died a short while afterward in Azkaban. She was careful to drink Polyjuice Potion until the end. She was buried under my name and bearing my appearance. Everyone believed her to be me.” His eyelids flickered, and Professor Dumbledore asked quietly,

“What did your father do with you, when he had got you home?”

“Staged my mother’s death. A quiet, private funeral. That grave is empty. The house-elf nursed me back to health. Then I had to be concealed. I had to be controlled. My father had to use a number of spells to subdue me. When I had recovered my strength, I thought only of finding my master… of returning to his service.” Barty responded,

“How did your father subdue you?” Professor Dumbledore asked,

“The Imperius Curse, I was under my father’s control. I was forced to wear an Invisibility Cloak day and night. I was always with the house-elf. She was my keeper and caretaker. She pitied me. She persuaded my father to give me occasional treats. Rewards for my good behaviour.”

“Master Barty, Master Barty,” Winky sobbed through her hands,

“You isn’t ought to tell them, we is getting in trouble…”’

“Did anybody ever discover that you were still alive?” Professor Dumbledore asked, “Did anyone know except your father and the house-elf?”

“Yes,” Barty said, his eyelids flickering again, “a witch in my father’s office. Bertha Jorkins. She came to the house with papers for my father’s signature. He was not at home. Winky showed her inside and returned to the kitchen, to me. But Bertha Jorkins heard Winky talking to me. She came to investigate. She heard enough to guess who was hiding under the Invisibility Cloak. My father arrived home. She confronted him. He put a very powerful Memory Charm on her to make her forget what she’d found out. Too powerful. He said it damaged her memory permanently.”

“Why is she coming to nose into my master’s private business?” Winky sobbed, “Why isn’t she leaving us be?”

“Tell me about the Quidditch World Cup,” Professor Dumbledore said, and Barty continued in his same monotonous voice,

“Winky talked my father into it. She spent months persuading him. I had not left the house in years. I had loved Quidditch. Let him go, she said. He will be in his Invisibility Cloak. He can watch. Let him smell fresh air for once. She said my mother would have wanted it. She told my father that my mother had died to give me freedom. She had not saved me for a life of imprisonment. He agreed in the end.” Barty continued telling his tale, but the Doctor’s attention shifted to Jack as he began to pull on the Doctor’s hand. _What?_ The Doctor mouthed to him. Jack just made a gesture towards the door with his head. The Doctor knew what he was trying to do. Avoid the hospital wing at all costs. That was the plan. With all the professors so distracted, they could easily slide out. After sending a longing look towards Barty, as there were so many questions he wanted answered, he allowed Jack to pull him out of the classroom.


	22. Re-Aging

“Hey, John!” Ron hurried up to him. It had been about a month, and Jack and the Doctor were forced to forget what happened in the maze so they could focus on re-aging.

“Yeah?”

“You mentioned that you didn’t have a family, and well, my mum said that if you wanted, you and Jack could come spend the summer with us.” The Doctor smiled,  
“That’s very generous of you, but I don’t think so. Jack and I should be all set by the time the school year ends.” Jack and the Doctor had finally found a potion, hidden in a book in Professor Dumbledore’s office. The Doctor decided to go looking when the Professor hadn’t been there. He was right, it was illegal for someone of his age to make, but neither he nor Jack cared about that. They had been spending their free time in the Forbidden Forest, running from creatures and collecting ingredients. They decided to send the TARDIS back where it was on the street by the leaky cauldron, so no one would suspect anything, and they could leave quietly.

“Oh.” Ron said, “Okay.”

“By the way,” The Doctor said, “I’ve been looking for Fred and George. Have you seen them around?” Ron nodded,

“They were in the common room last I saw them.” He said,

“Thanks Ron.” The Doctor smiled, and headed to the Gryffindor common room.

“Hey John!” Fred and George called as he walked in,

“Hey George, Hey Fred” The Doctor said, “I’ve been looking for you two.”

“Why?” George asked. The Doctor placed a rather large and very heavy sack of the gold he won in his hands. He had already given half to Fleur, as she had tied with him, but it still was an outrageous amount of money. “What’s this?” George asked. The Doctor just smiled,

“Keep it. Joke Shop.” Then ran off before Fred and George could give it back.

 

By the end of the year feast, The Doctor and Jack had perfected their ageing potion, and were ready for the year to end. They sat at the Gryffindor table, but this time the Beauxbatons girls sat with them, rather than with the Ravenclaws. Professor Dumbledore made a speech about friendship and perseverance, then congratulated the Doctor for winning the Triwizard Tournament. The food then appeared, and the Doctor ate his last meal at Hogwarts.

 

The train ride was somewhat sad, the Doctor and Jack had claimed that they were moving to America, where Jack’s family was, and would be going to school there. It was quickly believed because of Jack’s accent. By the time they had made it to the platform, Ron, Fred, and George’s family were there. They waved goodbye as they all left, leaving Hermione and Harry. Hermione’s parents seemed nice enough, but the Doctor remembered Harry mentioning that he lived with his aunt and uncle. From what he said, they were not very kind. “Hey Harry,” The Doctor said to him as Harry was about to get into their car,

“Yeah?”

“July first. Be packed. I’ll take you somewhere. Anywhere.” Harry looked at him with an unsure expression,

“I’ll be ready.”

 

The Doctor and Jack ran back to the TARDIS as quickly as they could. “Yeah, I missed you too.” The Doctor smiled and stroked the TARDIS. He and Jack walked in and immediately took the potion. They both grimaced at the taste, but could immediately feel themselves shooting upwards. Jack could only tell that he was finished when the Doctor was back to his normal sticky-uppy hair self. But, the moment he returned back to himself, he ran to the console and began flicking switches and pushing buttons.

“Where are we going?” Jack had to shout because the TARDIS was making so much noise.

“To pick up a passenger!” The Doctor called back. Soon, the sounds of the TARDIS quited, and the Doctor bounded towards the door. He opened it, and Jack hurried over. To Jack’s surprise, they were in a very normal-looking garden. In it, sat a wide-eyed Harry Potter.

“W-who are you?” He managed to get out, the Doctor laughed,

“I told you I’d come.” He prompted,

“John?”

“Well, I’m actually the Doctor. But when I need a name, I go by John.” Harry nodded,

“But, you were just a first-year eleven days ago.”

“Well, long story. But back to the point. Are you coming?” Harry stared at the blue box,

“This isn’t magic, is it?” He said, the Doctor grinned, glad he was catching on,

“No. No it’s not.”

“Can you get me back in time for Hogwarts?”

“It’s a time machine, Harry, I can get you back in time for five minutes ago. Are you coming?” Harry gave a grin and, as an answer, stepped into the TARDIS. The Doctor smiled and shut the doors.

“Allons-y!”


End file.
